


Life of a Republic Trooper

by Honey_Baby_Bee



Series: The Draé Legacy: When Light and Dark Collide Companion Pieces [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6909574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honey_Baby_Bee/pseuds/Honey_Baby_Bee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my story, a Cathar Trooper, from meeting Havoc's Jessica Tae to the day my life ends. I'm compiling this to appease my wife and share my legacy to our descendants.<br/>The story and legacy of Aric Jorgan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting Havoc’s New Member

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

             I hear the door open, from my place in the mission room. _Must be the last member of Havoc Squad._ I turn around, surprised that the sergeant hasn’t entered yet. Then I hear Farn’s voice “Excuse me, Sergeant? Uh, sorry to interrupt, but you’re the new member of Havoc squad, aren’t you? I’m Farn, sir, Private Farn. It’s a real honor to meet you! Ord mantel is my first post, I can’t believe I’m here at the same time as Havoc Squad!” I growl slightly, _great bug a member of one of the most rewarded Special Ops squads there is._ My ears perk when I hear him say, “And you’re so… or wha-what I mean to say is that I wasn’t expecting you to be a young woman, sir. Ma’am. Sergeant.” _That makes both of us, kid._ I’m hoping she isn’t taking offence, but I’m stunned when she chuckles, “Why is that?”

              _Be careful kid,_ “With your record and achievements, sir, I was expecting an older man not a... Um young beautiful woman.” I groan, _you had to say beautiful, didn’t you._ Fully expecting to hear a slap, but strangely not instead hearing “It’s okay, I get it all the time and ma’am is fine.” _Ma’am huh?!_ I stop myself from face palming when I hear Farn ask “If, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, ma’am, what’s your mission here? Why would Havoc Squad be sent to Ord Mantell?” _Why is the sergeant allowing this?_ Once again I’m stunned when she honestly replies, “We’re here to recover a powerful weapon the separatists stole from us. Now if you excuse me, I better get inside.” She’s almost inside when she says, “It was a pleasure meeting you, Private Farn.”

             I’m speechless when a young female Cathar enters the control room. I’ve never been attracted to women, too married to my job people would say, but I can’t help but think that Farn’s ‘beautiful’ fails to do her justice. I study her when Commander Harron Tavus introduces the team. She has dark brown ears, tail and hands with tan fur everywhere else, and one heck of a body. I only tune back in to the conversation when Tavus starts addressing the others “People, this is the new sergeant I mentioned. Sgt. Jessica Tae ranked first in the Academy in Forward Assault, Search and Destroy and Advance Recon.” My eyes widen at that, _impressive._ I notice her slightly blush, _not used to compliments._ Tavus turns back to her, “It’s good to have you, Sgt. Tae.” To which she confidently replies, “I’m eager to work with the best of the best!”

             I tune out the rest, only watching her as Tavus briefs them. She’s a stunning creature: intelligent and talented. _Gorgeous,_ my mind adds. She gasps so softly, only a Cather’s ears could pick up, when Fuse explains how powerful the weapon they’re looking for is. _Compassionate,_ I mentally add to the ever growing list. I see Tavus look at me letting me know he’s going to introduce me now, I walk up behind her. When she turns to face me, I almost forget how to breathe, suddenly thankful I have time to come up with something. I sharply salute her which she returns.

             Tavus nods to me giving me permission to speak. I start with “All right, Sergeant. I’ll be overseeing your op through the camera mounted on your armor. So I see what you see. It’s activated when you leave the fort.” _Perfect, Aric come off as a complete work alcoholic._ I surprise myself by walking closer to her all most in her face, “I’ll make this completely clear, rookie—when you’re in the field what I say goes. Period.” My heart stops when she looks up at me, “You don’t have to worry about me, Lieutenant!”  I can see her ferocity in her electric blue eyes. I slightly pull back to stop myself from doing something stupid, “The other members of Havoc have proven themselves on dozens of ops, Sgt. Tae. You haven’t. Just make your way to Talloran, meet with Bellis, and find out what he knows without screwing anything up.” Tavus cuts in, “Good luck in Talloran, Sergeant. Dismissed.”

              With a parting salute, she leaves mission control. Tavus looks at me, “You do realize you didn’t make a good impression on her, right?” I groan nodding my head. “In all my years of working with you, Jorgan, I’ve never seen you act so aggressive to a fellow officer.” He studies me then chuckles “I understand now.” Alarmed I look at him, and he laughs at my expression, “Don’t worry Jorgan. You aren’t the only one who’s fails to focus around a pretty face. But just know if you want it to go anywhere you’re going to have to be nicer. You won’t be able to get a woman’s heart by calling her a rookie,” leaving with a slap on my back. _Do I want it to go anywhere?_ I ask myself as I go stand in front of where her camera feed will show.

               On her way to Talloran, Sgt. Tae stops turning around to face a young girl. _Why are you stopping?_ As she walks closer, I notice the girl’s eyes are tearing up. The girl whispers something, causing Tae to gasp and put a reassuring hand on her arm. When she starts sobbing, she hugs her tightly, _she knows her._  After a while she pulls away slightly telling the girl something causing her to nods and wipe her tears. Thankfully they’re not all that far from the blockade, after a couple brief fire fights inside the village, the girl holds up a hand then after a brief nod they part ways.

               Tae gets to the alleyway quickly, but no sign of Bellis. She stands patiently for a few minutes then starts moving. _What are you doing now? Wait for him, darn it!_ She follows something that looks an awful like blood then runs across a poorly covered body. I growl, _Bellis! If she didn’t dillydally, he’d still be alive._ I call her on her holo, “Great, Bellis is KIA. That’s some fine work, Sergeant! Do you think you could’ve taken a little longer to get to the RV point?” She politely responds, “With all due respect, sir, he was dead before I even got to the Fort.” _Most people would have gotten angry with that. She’s impressive._ But despite my thoughts, I narrow my eyes at her, “and why do you think that?” Silently challenging her, to which she responds, “His body is cold besides the fact that there’s dried blood.” I groan and cover my face “We need that info, Sgt. Tae. If he followed procedure, Bellis should’ve left a coded recording of his discovery in his field box, hidden some inside his home in Talloran. Remember if separatists know Bellis was a spy, they may already be searching his home or waiting to ambush Republic agents as they come. Stay alert. You have to find that field box from Bellis’ house before the separatists do. Double-time it!” That time I did get a reaction but her voice continues calmly, “Roger that.” 

                “Jorgan out.” I watch her find Bellis’ home. Upon entering there’s a young woman making dinner when she sees Tae, she starts talking and after a while walks closer to her. _Who the kriff is that and why is Tae talking to her?_ After talking back and forth the woman breaks, falling to the floor sobbing. Tae carefully helps her back up and guides her to the nearest couch, _we don’t have time for this Sergeant!_  Tae reaches for some tissues handing a couple to the woman, then gets up and heads into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Upon leaving she points the camera to some holopics of the woman and Bellis marrying. I groan, _he had his wife with him! That’s against protocol!_

                Tae continues talking with Bellis’ wife then the wife gets up and Tae grasps her hand then something startles them, causing the wife to run down the hall and Tae to get in a fight stance. _We really need to add sound to these._ She opens fire right as the separatists’ break in. When they’re dead, she leaves grabbing some items then runs down the hall. Where she and Bellis’ wife talk and Tae hands her the things she picked up including Bellis’ ID tags. Then both of them leave together, _this isn’t a rescue op Sergeant! What are you doing!_ But Tae escorts her to the blockade then up to the Fort where the feed dies.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

                 After ten minutes, there’s a thud behind me knowing that it’s Tae, I state “About time, Sergeant,” as she leaves. To which she hastily turns around and marches in front of me practically growling, “Next time warn me when I have to notify a family,” then promptly leaves. My eyes unconsciously follow her, _she’s one hell of a soldier and a woman._


	2. Working with Havoc

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

          I call Tae in as soon as the sun raises, surprised that she’s already dressed and ready to go. “Good you’re here. I’m still decrypting Bellis’ data but Lieutenant Bazren has a task for you,” I state pointing to Fuse, before walking to decrypt the data. “Oh, um, yes, we found an urgent lead a little bit ago. The perfect op for our new assault specialist,” Fuse nervously says. “What’s the assignment?” Tae asks. “Here’s what happened: This refugee comes into the fort, right? Not that unusual, but this guy says he knows about a separatist bombing—one happening today! All we got was his name, Mirru—‘cause he was thrown out of the fort before we could get to him.” I can see her raise an eyebrow at that as she says, “I don’t think throwing informants out is standard procedure.” I join in, “Bums come here every day, trying to trade ‘intel’ for credits. It’s bogus ninety percent of the time, so the grunts downstairs usually chase them off.” She was looking at me when I was speaking but as soon as I’m done her attention is back on Fuse, “I guess Mirru could be lying, but what if he does know about the ZR-57? We can’t take that risk.” She nods, “I’ll learn what I can.” Fuse smiles, “Good, you’ll find him over in the refugee camp. Good luck, Sgt. Tae!”

          After yesterday’s op Tae holocam now has sound and works in the refugee camp. She finds Mirru rather easily but as she approaches him, he backs up nervously “Oh no, not this again! What, you people didn’t have enough fun beating me up at the fort, you gotta come find me here, too?” Tae sighs as he continues, “You’re nothing but a thugs in uniform, and your bosses are going to hear about it—your bosses’ bosses, all the way on Coruscant, you hear me?! You’re going down!” _What the blazes has the grunts been doing to people?!_ I hear Tae say “I’m not here to hurt you, I promise. I’m sorry for what the others did to you, but I need your help! You said you had information for us earlier, I’m here to find out what you know.”

          Mirru smirks “Oh now, my information means something!? Well, too bad! All the trauma I suffered I might have forgotten everything I knew about any separatist bombings.” Tae smugly says, “I never said anything about any bombings. And here some kolto for your injuries. I know you’re mad at the soldiers, but don’t let that anger kill innocent people. Please, tell me what you know.” _Wow, she’s good._ He groans, “Okay you win… I saw the separatists hiding a bunch of bombs alongside this road heading to the fort for an ambush. I heard them say the bombs are timed to blow when some troop convoy is going past. I don’t know when, but it’s gotta be soon.” She hands him something, “Thanks, I’ll do what I can to stop what happened to you from happening to anyone else. Bye, Mirru.”

          As she walks away I holo her, “All right, Sergeant. I copied what Mirru said, and this bomb situation sounds like the real deal. I want you to locate the bombs and disarm them. A troop convoy is scheduled to move through there any minute now. So double-time it, soldier!” She nods, “Copy that!” She easily finds three bombs and disarms them, but she continues the search just in case. After covering the entire area, she heads back to the fort just as Tavus enters Mission Control. I hear the door to the barracks open but if that’s Tae, something is holding her up. After a couple of minutes she finally comes in. On seeing her, Tavus starts “Ah, Sgt. Tae—good to see you again. Superb work on that ambush situation—adaptability like that is what Havoc is all about.” She beams, “Thank you, sir.” I walk up behind him as he continues, “I have other good news as well. Jorgan has finished reviewing the intel form Bellis’ field box. It’s given us a real breakthrough.”

         “Did Bellis manage to uncover the ZR-57’s hiding place?” she asks wide eyed and hopeful. Tavus nods, “He did, Tae.” Then looks at me giving me permission to speak, “Bellis discovered that the separatists have the ZR-57 securely inside their supply outpost on Mannett Point, a small island just off the coast.” Then I look back at Tavus who continues, “I sent Wraith ahead to reconnoiter the outpost, and she successfully located a secure area where we believe the bomb is stored. Judging by the dramatic increase in the number of guards and the complex security systems installed, we’re certain the bomb is there.” _I really doubt the seps got this all by themselves,_ “Honestly, with security like this, Mannett Point looks more like an Imperial military base that a separatist hideout to me. I think the seps are getting a helping hand, Tavus.” He folds his arms, “From the Imperials? That seems unlikely, Jorgan. Surely our spies would have discovered any Imperial involvement on Ord Mantell long before now.” Tae steps in, “The seps do seem to be unusually well equipped, Commander.” Tavus sighs, “We’ll discuss this later, back to the mission at hand. Wraith can’t breach the secured area of the Mannett Point outpost alone, so I’m sending you in immediately. Mannett Point Bridge is out of commission, so you’ll have to make an amphibious approach to the island. Oh, you will also need this,” Tavus hands her a comlink, “When you arrive, effect entry into the supply outpost and rendezvous with Wraith inside. She’ll give you further instructions at that time. Understood?” She nods, “Affirmative, sir. But first there’s a lieutenant named Virk running a bribery scheme with the men under his command.” _Uh, is that what took her so long,_ “Virk? I know that guy. He’s a pretty pathetic officer, but nobody’s ever made any official complaints—none that I heard about anyway.” I look at Tavus, “Jorgan and I will see to this. You get better get moving. Dismissed.” She give us a parting salute then walks out.

          On her journey to the island, I notice she is once again with the young human girl. The girl is obviously not military and not a separatist as she was killing them, so I don’t know how she knows Tae or why in the blazes she has to get to Mannett Point. Once they reach the water, the girl shrugs out of her vest and boots putting into her bag, then doing the same with other things that might way her down, while Tae does the same. _She_ _has the Force,_ as the girl has the bags lightly float above the water to keep them dry as they swim across. Still together, they easily sneak into the town, carefully avoiding all enemies as they seem to be knocking out the power relays, the girl nods her head before she leaves Tae. Tae easily gets inside the outpost and meets up with Wraith at a terminal. On seeing her, Wraith states, “Sergeant. No time to waste. The bomb is behind a force field. We’re breeching it.”  I hear Tae’s voice say, “Just tell me what to do.”

          “I’ll disable the shield from here, you pass through and destroy its generator. When the generator is down, I’ll rejoin you.” Tae says, “Understood, sir.” Wraith stops to look at her, “Then go.” Tae quickly leaves and runs a crossed a room that has three injured soldiers, one standing and two on cots. “Hold your fire! We surrender! We surrender!” the one standing says. One of them laying down says “Please! We’re all hurt—bad! We can barely walk!” Tae lowers her gun then paces in front of them as they continue, “We won’t interfere or try to stop you—I swear it! We’ll just… we-we’ll walk out the door and never come back. Just please, let us live!” I raise an eyebrow as I see her hand them some medpacks “You can go, as long as you don’t cause trouble. Understood?” The three look at her surprised and one says, “Really? You mean it? Thank you! Thank you!” The other one says, “You’re an honorable soldier. We appreciate it.” I hear Tae say, “There’s a lot more shooting to be done. Keep your heads down and move out.” One nods, “We’ll do that. Thanks again.”

          After shutting down the generator she goes into the room that was shielded, only to find a large storage room with a single soldier and no bomb. The man, a separatist officer by the looks of him, says on seeing her, “What the—a Republic soldier? How did you get in here?” She states, “In the name of the Galactic Republic, I order you to surrender!” He folds his arms, “Go ahead! Take me in, torture me! I’ll reveal nothing! The glorious separatist movement will never submit to your decadent, so-called Republic!” When he’s done Wraith states, “Hm. No bomb.” The man exclaims, “That’s right! We’re three steps ahead of you. Three hundred steps ahead! The separatist movement is an unstoppable force, driven by the will of the people.” Wraith steps closer to him, “Enough.” Then looks at Tae, “Kill him?”

          “I’ll follow your lead, Wraith.” He falters, “The—the glorious… you don’t, you don’t scare…me… I…” Tae points her gun at him and he holds up his hands, “Wait, wait! The bomb! They moved it! They-they moved it! My commander came, he… we took the bomb down to the coast and loaded it onto a seaspeeder. I don’t know where it was taken after that.” Wraith cuts in, “Extensive security. Why?” He swallows, “It’s because… well… Saphrro, Vyru and Bol are here. Three of our greatest heroes who lead us in our glorious...” Wraith hits him, he grunts and continues, “They’re, uh, they’re officers. Cell commanders. They run operations in different parts of Avilatan. They’re having a conference, relocating men to different cells. They’re…” Wraith shoots him before he says anymore, “They’re dead. Sergeant?” Just before I talk to her via comlink, Tae says “I’ll take care of them, sir.” I state “Saphrro, Vyru and Bol are priority one targets, Sergeant. And recovering their data on separatist cell locations and manpower is too good an opportunity to pass up. That data will be critical to learning the bomb’s movements before it’s too late.” Wraith says, “You have your orders. Get the data. Kill the officers. Go.”

         Tae confidently walks into their meeting room as Bol is saying, “I’m telling you, I heard blaster fire. I think we’ve been compromised!” She pulls out her blaster as Vyru exclaims, “There! Intruder! Bol, call for back up, now!” Bol turns and looks at her, as she states “In the name of the Galactic Republic, I order you to surrender!” Bol yells, “Saphrro! Wipe the data, we can’t let it fall into enemy hands!” Saphrro yells back, “She’s one soldier, Bol! Kill her!” They open fire every shot barely missing her. The fight is rather short for being one against three, she shoots Saphrro in the chest instantly killing him then on to Bol and Vyru. Once the bodies’ drop she goes immediately to the terminal that Saphrro was in front of and copy the data then heads back to Fort Garnik. Just as she finishes Lt. Dorant walks in Mission Control, “Is Wraith and Tae finished yet?” I nod, “Sgt. Tae is on her way now.” He nods, “Good, I have a task for her.”

         We fall silent until Tae walks in and Dorant greets her with “Sergeant, you’ve returned. Masterful work, eliminating the separatist officers. The beast has been beheaded.” I nod to her in greeting. “I’ll get the officers’ data out to the rest of Havoc right away. As for you, Lieutenant Dorant here has a special op already planned out,” I state when Dorant finishes then walk back over to the computer terminal. “Earlier today, a man named Zak came to the fort from Oradam village seeking medical attention. Zak was suffering from acute radiation poisoning, causing catastrophic organ failure. His body was practically tearing itself apart from within—quite magnificent to observe. Anyway… as a day laborer, Zak performs pointless, menial tasks that would never involve any kind of radiation exposure.” I cut in, “On the other hand, Fuse told us that the ZR-57 can leak significant amounts of radiation if handled improperly.”

         “Zak must have been near the ZR-57, knowingly or otherwise. I want the details, even if you must pry them from his dying husk of a mind,” Needles continues. She nervously swallows, “Is that really necessary?” I grimly nod, “This is a desperate situation, Sgt Tae. We need that intel.” Needles continues, “The medics who treated Zak weren’t equipped to cure his condition—most of their supplies have been stolen by scavengers. However, if you were to retrieve the necessary ingredients to cure Zak’s affliction… I think you would find the offer of a cure very useful in gaining his cooperation. Given that Zak’s current medications can promise only a lifetime of excruciating pain, the potential for a full recovery should be an excellent motivator.” He stops and I continue from where he left off, “Command knows exactly where the scavengers are—we just haven’t had the resources to deal with them. Here are the coordinates and a list of ingredients to retrieve. Any questions?”

        “Hit the scavenger camp, retrieve the ingredients to cure Zak’s radiation poisoning. Understood,” she says with a nod. “Once you’ve got the cure collected, you’ll confront Zak at his home in Oradam village and question him about the ZR-57. Nothing fancy on this one, Sgt. Tae. Just get the ingredients, get the intel from Zak, and then get back. Dismissed,” I state then watch her leave looking over her list.


	3. Not the Plan

=-=-=-=-=-=

          Tae’s camera only picks up once she’s out of the fort, so the first thing I see is her and the girl who’s always with her getting speeders. I slightly growl when her friend gets off at the village and takes forever to come back out. “About time you came back out here, Chey. I was about to go in there and get you!” I hear Tae say to the girl, to which she chuckles, “Sorry Jess, I have to head near the volcano now.” She gets back on the speeder and they both head off to where the scavengers are and they split up. Tae finds the scavengers that stole the medical supplies rather easily. She opens fire killing at least six scavengers, then loots the bodies searching for the things on the list. I hear her groan and know she didn’t find everything as she looks for more scavengers. She finds a large group of them and opens fire killing at least half before they realize what’s happening. Once their bodies fall, she loots them then places everything in her bag before replacing it back onto her back and goes back to the speeders. Her friend is already there and I hear Tae say “Hey Cheyanne, I have to go back to the village. See you back at the fort?” Cheyanne nods, “Yep, sounds good. See you in a bit, Jessi.” I watch as they both get on the speeders.

          I only focus back on her, when I hear a man’s voice say “You, you’re a soldier, right? From the fort? Please help us. We’re really sick—my wife is dying.” A male human says looking down at a reddish orange female Twi’lek who says, “forget it… ungh…I’ll be fine. Zak, just get that soldier out of here!” _Sounds a bit suspicious…_ just as Tae says, “You are not fine. You were poisoned by a stolen Republic bomb.” Zak’s eyes widen then looks down at his wife, “What? You mean… Jaller, do you know anything about this?” She closes her eyes, “Quiet Zak. We don’t know anything about… ungh… anything.” Zak practically yells, “They’re the reason we’re both sick, aren’t they? You’re dying because of them!” Jaller groans “Zak, don’t. You’ll ruin everything. The movement…” Zak interrupts her, “The movement sold us out! They don’t care about us… they just care about their weapons and their secrets.”

          “No! I’ll never betray the movement! Never!” Jaller exclaims. “Ma’am, please don’t make this any harder,” Tae states. Jaller shakes her head as Zak says “Sweetheart, they aren’t worth dying for. Think of me. I love you.” Her eyes narrow, “If you love me, Zak, you won’t betray everything I stand for. Please let me go.” Zak’s jaw tightens “Please sweetheart, don’t do this.” I hear Tae sigh, “Use this injector. It’ll cure your radiation poisoning—both of you.” Zak looks at her stunned as she hands him the injectors while I grumble at her, “R—really? Thank you. Thank you so much.” Jaller grunts, “No, Zak… not worth…” Tae interrupts her as Zak injects them both, “This doesn’t come with a charge, but I’d be grateful if you would tell me how you got sick.” She shakes her head furiously while Zak says, “Jaller and I helped move this really big crate. We got sick right afterward—I’m sure it’s what you’re looking for. We dropped the crate off at the stronghold—it’s the separatists’ main base.” Tae says “Thank you, I hope you both have a happy and wonderful life.” As she leaves we hear Jaller exclaim, “I’ll never forgive you for that, Zak! You betrayed me!” I know she heard it to because she sighs while heading back to the speeder where I holo her. “Come on in, Tae. I copied everything—sounds like we’re gonna be hitting the seps where they live. Good work.” She slightly smirks, “What can I say I have a way with people.” I roll my eyes “Yeah, I guess you missed your calling. Just hang on before you file for that transfer, we still got work to do. Infiltrating that mountain stronghold isn’t going to be easy. I’ve put out the call. Havoc is assembling immediately, so get back here on the double. Jorgan out.” When the call ends I see the she’s slightly smiling.

          As Tae is on her way, Tavus and the others arrive. “Good work, Jorgan. We need to get working on breaching that fortress which all of us will do minus Sergeant Tae. Under no circumstances she is allowed to go to that base. Understood?” Tavus states. Taken aback “Yes, sir.” _I thought she was doing good, but orders are orders._ Then as soon as they all arrive from whatever they were doing, they leave. After about fifteen minutes Tae comes in a little annoyed but smirking. “Ah, Sgt. Tae, welcome back. Grab yourself a seat. You’re gonna be observing the op here with me.” She raises an eyebrow, “I take it the rest of my squad is already in the field?” _Observant_ I nod, “The rest of Havoc is infiltrating the separatists’ stronghold as we speak. Commander Tavus was very clear: Under no circumstances can I send you in to join them on this mission. I have to admit, I’m a little surprised. I honestly thought you were starting to come along, but I guess Tavus still isn’t convinced you’re ready for the big time.” I’m surprised that all she does is sigh and nod, “I trust Commander Tavus’ judgment, though I wish I could be there fighting by their side.” Impressed I give her a nod, “Maybe next time, Tae. I’m sure…” a noise interrupts me. “Lieutenant, sir! We’ve got a situation here!” Ensign Tempe says turning around. “Talk to me, Ensign. What’s going on?” I says trying to wrap my head around what’s happening. “We’ve lost contact with Havoc Squad, sir! Comms, video, locators, everything. It’s like they’ve disappeared completely,” Tempe states. I exclaim, “That’s unacceptable, soldier! You get back to that terminal, and you get me Havoc’s status, now!”

          The ensign swallow and nods, “Yes, sir!” then turns back around to the terminal. “Send me in, Lieutenant—they may need assistance,” Tae’s voice cuts through. I look at her and I can see how concerned she is, “It’d be breaking Tavus’ orders, but if it comes to that…” The ensign turns around again, “Still no signal from Havoc, sir. I think we may have lost them.” Tae groans softly as I begin addressing everyone in mission control “All right, people, listen up. This mission will not fail on my watch. We are not gonna let that bomb get away again! Infiltrating that stronghold is a mission only Havoc Squad can pull off,” I look at Tae, “Lucky for us, we have one Havoc trooper left! Sergeant Tae—you’re going in there. The ZR-57 must not remain in separatist hands. Is that clear?” She confidently nods “Yes, sir!” I sigh, “We were hoping to get the bomb back intact, but we’re way south of a best-case scenario here. So here’s the new plan: We have the deactivation code for the ZR-57. We disarm the bomb—leaving the seps with nothing but a big, radioactive paperweight.”

          Tempe continues, “You’ll have to hijack the separatists’ comm system to broadcast the code. This data spike should do the trick.” I look down slightly not willing to look her in the eyes, “I never thought it’d come to this, Sgt. Tae. I don’t need to tell you what happens if you don’t pull this off.” She swallows, “I’ve never failed a mission before, and I’m not gonna start today.” I slightly smile, “That’s what I like to hear! You have the coordinates for the seps base. I’m sure you can guess how much security they’re likely to have. Breach the perimeter, use the data spike on the comm terminal and shut the ZR-57 down for good. Thousands of lives are on the line here, Tae. We’re counting on you.” She still confidently nods, “I won’t fail you, Lieutenant.” Pleased, I nod, “Good luck, Tae.”

          Her transmission only starts outside the fort once again but this time besides just being with Cheyanne like she has been there is a young man with them as well riding behind Cheyanne. Once they’re closer to the volcano, I see not only separatists but also Imperial soldiers dressed like seps. I wouldn’t have known they were if not for their Imperial tactics. When they’re inside the man whistles, “How in the blazes in the separatists afford this!?” I hear Tae state “Jorgan was right, they must be getting Imperial help.” With the three of them, the soldiers don’t even stand a chance and they quickly get to where the comm terminal is. All three clear the room before leaving Tae alone to put in the data spike and I holo her, “You did it, Tae! That was some top-notch soldiering… we’re all proud of you.” She nods “Thank you, sir.” I grunt, “Looks like we’ve got a whole new problem. Not all of those guards you killed were seps. Imperial soldiers operating right alongside the separatists. We need to know how deep this connection goes. I want you to continue further into the base. Finding the rest of Havoc is now priority one. If they’ve been captured, they might be able to tell us more about what’s going on in there. If at all possible, you should also retrieve the ZR-57. It costs about forty million credits, so Command would probably like it back. But your squad-mates are the main objective now.” She nods again unfazed by the infomation, “If my squad-mates are here, I will bring them home.” I slightly smile, “Good luck, Tae.”

          When she rejoins the others, she says “Almost done.” Then they climb higher into the base, killing any soldiers they see as they go up three stories. They spilt up to go into two different hangers, leaving Tae alone. As she walks into the hanger she hesitates, when she gets closer I see why, the rest of Havoc is standing next to Imperial soldiers and the ZR-57. “Sergeant, I thought my orders were very clear. You aren’t supposed to be here,” Tavus says when he sees her. I hear a weapon being prepped behind her, causing her to turn slightly, where I see Wraith pointing her rifle at her, “I will take her.” Tavus says “No, Wraith. The sergeant deserves to know the truth. I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this. I harbor no ill will toward you. You’re everything a warrior should be. But I’m afraid the Republic no longer values her warriors—even the very best among them.” Tae sighs, “You’ve fought the Empire for years—do you really think things are better over there?”

          “The Empire respects warriors, Sergeant. The Republic’s top officials, on the other hand, have decided to cast us aside. The truth is that no matter what they may say, the Republic Senate doesn’t actually believe it can win another war against the Empire. That makes you and I, a threat. Every Havoc Squad victory fires up people’s imaginations, fills them with pride—which means the bureaucrats can’t afford to let us keep succeeding,” Tavus states. “We are not fighting for the bureaucrats, Commander. We are fighting for the people they are meant to serve. The ones who can’t fight for themselves, the ones that need our strength and protection. We are fighting for freedom,” Tae emotionally says. “If only you’d been with us longer, Sergeant, you would understand. You might’ve even come with us,” Tavus states shaking his head, “The Republic abandoned us. During a mission on Ando Prime, they simply left us to die. But I know better then to try to persuade you. Honestly, I hope you die with your ideals intact. The rest of us will never have that luxury.” Tae pleads one last time, “It’s not too late, Tavus. You can still turn back.” He scoffs, “Turn back to what? The Republic that wants me dead and gone? No, Sergeant, I think not.” As the bomb is loaded into the shuttle, Fuse coughs “Oh, uh, by the way, good work finding the ZR-57 for us. We were starting to worry that the separatists might, you know, waste our big present for the Empire,” he states matter-of-factly. “But thanks to you, we can now present the Empire with this magnificent tool of destruction,” Needles says. I hear Tae smugly state, “The Imperials won’t be very impressed once they realize the bomb is neutralized.” Tavus shakes his head, “A clever bluff, Sergeant, but it won’t help you.”

        “We’d better get a move on, boss. If we don’t break atmo in the next few minutes, every gun in the sky will have a clear shot at us,” Gearbox says to Tavus. “Time we were off. Colonel Vorr? Please give the sergeant the warrior’s death she deserves,” Tavus says just before five Imperials start shooting at her, letting the traitors leave peacefully. “It’s been an honor serving with you, Sergeant Tae. Goodbye.  She rolls to the nearest cover with only a shot to her upper thigh, before watching the traitors’ shuttle leave the hanger. “You’ll regret this, Tavus. I won’t rest until I’ve taken you all down,” she states before returning fire to the Imperials. She works on the four grunts before directing fire on the Colonel. She nearly falls leaving the hanger, when hurried footsteps come closer and her friend’s voice says “Oh stars, Jessi! Corso help me with her!” Then Corso, the man, says, “What happened?” All Tae says is, “My squad is gone. I’m the only one left.” Cheyanne closes her eyes before saying “Corso, can you get her by yourself?” just has he picks her up. “Good then, I’ll clear the way back to the speeders,” Cheyanne states. Once they reach them, Corso places her behind the girl then gets on the other speeder.

        As she’s on her way, General Vander comes in “Lieutenant Jorgan, I need to speak with you. Come here.” I swallow before walking to him. “Jorgan because of what happened with Havoc squad, you are being demoted to Sergeant and are no longer part of my division. I’m sorry, Jorgan.” _What? I’m being punished!_ “General, with all due respect, how can you do this? I’ve served with your Infantry Command for years.” His eyes slightly narrow “That’s enough, Jorgan, This wasn’t my choice. But a defection of this scale—someone has to swing, and the powers that be say it’s you.” Tae’s voice cuts though, “So I see bad news travels fast. What’s going on?” I’m silently grateful she’s here also surprised she’s not being escorted. “Your squad full of traitors just destroyed my career, Sgt. Tae. Command can’t punish them, so they’re burning me instead.” Vander looks at me slightly annoyed, “You must be our last loyal Havoc member. I’m General Vander, Republic chief of operations for Ord Mantell. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. On behalf of the Republic and the people of Ord Mantell, I want to thank and congratulate you for your courageous actions in disabling the stolen ZR-57. Your heroic efforts saved countless innocent lives. In recognition of your valiant service, I hereby promote you to the rank of lieutenant. Congratulations.” Since I’m looking at her I can see her shock of her promotion which she tries to hide. “Thank you, sir. I’m honored.”

        “Now, Lieutenant Tae, as the last remaining member of Havoc, the duty of rebuilding the squad falls to you. Havoc is your command. To get the process started, I’ve decided to assign Sergeant Jorgan here as Havoc’s first new member.” Now it’s my turn to be surprised as she looks at me, “It’ll be nice have you in the unit, Jorgan.” Trying to be indifferent I cross my arms, “I’ll take the Havoc patch and the sergeant stripes if it means I get to grind them into Tavus’ face before we kill him.” We both look over to Vander as he says, “This is the best I can do for you, Jorgan. You’re a good man, and we need good people now more than ever,” he pauses as he begins pacing, “I don’t know what Tavus is planning, but he knows the inner workings of our military better than anyone. The destruction that he could cause is limitless.” Tae shakes her head, “I won’t allow Tavus and the others to harm the Republic, sir.” He slightly smiles, “Just don’t underestimate them, Lieutenant. Tavus and his followers won’t be easy to take down. In any case, your work here is done. I’ve got a shuttle prepped-you’re going to Coruscant for your next assignment so both of you pack up. When you arrive on Coruscant tomorrow, report immediately to the head of SpecForce division, General Garza. She’ll be issuing your orders from now on.” Tae nods, “Understood, sir.” He slightly smiles, “You’d better get moving. Good luck to you both.” We both walk out of the room together.

        Through I’ve been station at Ord Mantell for a while as a soldier I never really unpacked. So I just send all my things I don’t need in the field back to my parents to hold on to then go can a shower so I don’t tear Tae’s head off. After I’m done I go wait by Tae’s door just wearing my new uniform. When Tae steps out I see she’s wearing the same, I follow her out of the barracks stopping when she does outside probably waiting for her friends. She finds a place to sit before looking over at me, “I’m sorry about this, Jorgan. But I have to say I’m glad that it means I can work with you some more. To prove to you I’m not a rookie,” trying to break my sour mood. When I say nothing she sighs, “You realize that ignoring me isn’t going to solve anything, right?” I grunt, making her groan, “Fine… whatever… just continue to ignore me and growl… Makes you appear very friendly…” As a group of people hurry by after staring at me. She falls silent giving me time to look at her, internally groaning. _Great! I’m attracted to my CO. Not only is she stunning to the eyes but she’s a great soldier and her personality draws me in._ “Hey Jess, who is this?” Cheyanne asks as they get closer. “This is Aric Jorgan. He was coordinating our ops and now has been transferred under my command.” She raises an eyebrow, and Tae continues, “I was… um… promoted to Lieutenant since I am the last remaining member of Havoc and Jorgan here was… undeservingly demoted.” I look at her and she swallows. Cheyanne says “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m her best friend, Chey and this here is Corso Riggs.” I nod in greeting, “I saw you working with Tae during her ops. You do good work for a smuggler.” She grins “Why thank you, I think!?” Tae says, “So where are you going now?” Chey swallows, “Coruscant, Skavak took my ship to Coruscant. We’re taking a shuttle to Carrick Station then leaving for there tomorrow.” Tae exclaims, “So are we!” then the four of us head to the Spaceport.

        Before we can get on the shuttle, two men get off and step in front of us. “Now this is what I call service. We step off the shuttle, and the bounty we’re here to collect is already waiting. Perfect,” says the Kel Dor. “I’m sick of being cooped up on starships, Xo’ru. I want to run around and shoot things for a while,” the Mon Calamari complains. “Easy, Kindin. Greetings, gentle-being Captain. We are here on behalf of Rogun the Butcher. It seems he’d like a word with you,” Xo’ru says. “You must be Rogun’s bounty hunters,” Chey says confidently, “but I’m a little busy trying to get back the guns and my ship so if you could just come back later, in would be greatly appreciated.” Xo’ru crosses his arms, “No can do, so don’t make this difficult. We get a substantial bonus if we being you in alive.” She pause a brief moment before saying “Oh, sorry don’t think that fits in my calendar. Rain check?!” Xo’ru sighs, “You should have just surrendered.” Kindin cuts in, “But I’m glad you didn’t!” The resulting fire fight was rather short but it was four against two. Kindin felt first with blaster shots to his body from Chey and a well-placed sniper shot to his head from me. Corso and Tae focus all their fire on Xo’ru but it still took all of us to take him down. After they both have fallen we quickly get in the shuttle. Once we arrive at the station, Tae and I split from Cheyanne and Corso.

        “So Havoc Squad. Best of the best. Can’t say I’m thrilled about the demotion, but it’s an honor to be here, ma’am,” I say once we’re sitting at a table on the station cantina. She gives me a smile, “I realize the circumstances weren’t ideal but I’m glad you’re with me, Jorgan.” I slightly smile before wiping it away, “A spot in Havoc was the least they could do. Four years at the Academy, seven years in the field, decorations, commendations… Would’ve made captain soon if Command hadn’t hung me out to dry.” She sighs, “We both know Tavus’ defection wasn’t your fault.” I scoff, “Tell that to the brass when they need a scapegoat. But hey, water under the bridge, Command put me in Havoc to help you find Tavus and I intend to do just that. I’ve hunted Imperials from one side of the galaxy to the next. Used to command the Deadeyes—finest sniper squad in the Republic.” She half smiles, “So I have a former Deadeye has a squad-mate, imagine that. Can’t wait to see what you can do, Jorgan.” I nod, “You won’t be disappointed. So you’re friends with a smuggler, how did you manage that?” She looks up at me, “Cheyanne and I grew up together. Her family basically adopted me as their own which I was more than happy with. She only started doing cargo a year ago when she got her ship for her sixteenth birthday, by then I’d already graduated from the Academy and was in my third or four posting.” I chuckle “Wow, so why did you join the military?” She looks back down, “Because of my grandfather, I joined Special Forces because of Cheyanne’s little sister. She was taken by pirates then sold into slavery when she was four. That was ten years ago and they finally found her yesterday.” I see a single tear fall into her plate.

          After a while she looks up, “I’m sorry about that. I’m usually better than this.” I shrug, “It’s okay… understandable really, with all that’s going on lately.” She slightly smiles, “Thank you, I think…” then looks over at where Cheyanne and Corso are sitting. Then gets up and motioning for me to follow, at their table is a silver protocol droid. As we get closer I hear Cheyanne say “We’ll meet her in the Tower,” then the droid leaves. Once we’re closer Tae says, “Was that A7 I just saw?” Cheyanne nods chuckling, “Master Alena wants to meet with all of us tomorrow and Talia will be joining us on Coruscant.” I look over at Tae curiously to see her smile, “Well it will be good to see them both.” Cheyanne nods “Yes, it will be. I don’t know about you but I need sleep.” Tae nods, “Definitely after my day. Rooming together, Chey?” She smirks, “We did only get two rooms for four. So yes, in less you plan on bunking with Jorgan or Corso.” Tae blushes and Cheyanne slightly giggles for which Tae lightly slaps her arm. “Okay boys, I hope you two can get a long because I have some overdue teasing to do,” Cheyanne brightly says causing Tae to groan. The four of us head up the elevator to the rooms then Corso and I walk the girls to their door where Cheyanne says, “Good night, Jorgan, Corso.” We both nod but something makes Cheyanne blush which I’m guessing is Corso.


	4. The New Havoc

=-=-=-=-=-=

            Grumbling, I wake up after tossing and turning most of the night, internally cursing Command for my nerves of serving under a new CO, a rookie to boot. I had taken the liberty of getting Tae’s service record when I was outranking her, but never had the time to read it. I was planning on reading it last night, but it seemed a little odd to read reports while sharing a room with a smuggler. Speaking of which, I glance at the man, sprawled out of the bed, dead to the world. He and I get along pretty well, surprisingly. If those who know me were to see us talking they’d say I’d found a like-minded individual. They wouldn’t be too far from the truth. The man on the bed groans slightly, making my ears flick in irritation as I start a pot of caff before stretching and dressing in shorts and a tank top, then heading out the door. Against my better judgment, I head to the girls’ room. Just as I raise my hand to knock lightly on the door it opens, and my CO runs straight into me. The run in made Tae lose her balance, and she tips backward into the, now closed, door. I stifle a chuckle seeing her blue eyes widen in shock, before holding out a hand for her to take. I grit my teeth as she grabs it, feeling her soft, nearly silky fur underneath my coarser, and the tingle it creates even when we both let go. “So, um…” she begins, and I feel myself puff my chest out as her eyes take in my appearance. I smirk internally when I can see a light blush coloring her cheeks, “Are you going for a jog?” I surprise both her and myself when I slightly smile before nodding, “A run but yeah,” swallowing, as my eyes take in what she’s wearing, a black sports bra that reveals her tan midriff but protects her modesty, which I find myself both thankful for and cursing. “Would you care to join me?” I finally finish. She gives me a bright smile, “Sure.” I nod, before noticing how close we are, nearly touching so I step back giving her a respectable amount of space.

            Our run together was fairly quiet, each of us wrapped in our own heads, but it was a pleasant silence. She kept up with me, even as I would rapidly change pace, testing our ability to work together. It was almost like she had a second sense, that she could feel what I was about to do before I did, because not once did she ever lag behind, even for a moment. When we would stop for a break, to drink water or stretch a bit more, I kept finding myself captivated by her, the way she moved while stretching or one particular time watching a water droplet slip past her lips and down her body. I thanked the stars when Corso joins us in workout attire, “May I join you?” I nod instantly, before remembering about my CO as both Corso and I turn to her. She flashes Corso a smile that a once isn’t anything like the one she gives me, “Sure, why not.” Corso grins slapping me on the back as I release a soft prayer of thankfulness. I feel slightly bad that for the remainder of Tae’s run with us it's mostly Corso and I continuing our discussion for last night. But I notice as she leaves us, that there’s a slight smile on her face and the slight sway of her hips as she walks away. When I glance at Corso, he’s smirking, “Enjoying the view, Jorgan?” I glare at him half-heartedly, “I have no idea what you are talking about, Riggs.” He chuckles, “Huh-uh, and I’m a rancor.” I glare at him again, before he slaps me on the back, “I’m pretty sure we should get back. Our shuttle should be here soon.” I nod, and we head up to our room. After a quick shower, I dress in my cleaned uniform as we’ll be speaking to General Elin Garza, Havoc’s commanding officer. I grumble slightly seeing the rank of Sergeant, glittering on my uniform before gritting my teeth as Corso and I leave our belongings in our packs. Unsurprisingly, Corso and I are the first to arrive in the cantina, so Corso takes it among himself to pick out a large enough table for the four of us. Tae and the Captain join us shortly after our meal has arrived.

            Corso waves them over, “Good morning ladies.” Tae politely smiles and her best friend nods as they sit down. Tae is in uniform as well, its similar to the one I’d worn before my demotion but in Havoc colors, Cheyanne is smuggler approved clothing. After the ladies’ order, a pale yellowish green male Twi’lek dressed in a Republic uniform walks up. “Lieutenant Tae, I’m sorry to interrupt but I need to speak with you.” Tae sighs but wordlessly gets up and follows him. Cheyanne raises an inquisitive eyebrow at me, causes me to shrug, “Probably something to do with being the new CO of Havoc.” She nods before asking, “You’re not mad at her, are you?” Surprised at the question, I quickly glance at her, shaking my head, “Why do you ask?” She rolls her eyes, “Because of how you were yesterday when we walked up.” I grimace, silently cursing, “No, I’m not mad at her. It’s not her fault.” Her eyes narrow slightly as she nods, before she slightly smiles, “She’s something, isn’t she?” I frown, looking at her questioningly. She sighs, “A perfect example of the ideal soldier, friend, and” she looks at me pointedly as she continues, “woman…” I choke slightly, my eyes widening as I gasp, “I… I have… I have no idea what you’re talking about…” She smirks, obviously pleased with herself and I see Corso look over at me with a grin, as the smuggler continues, “Sure… Well, I for one am glad she has you to watch out for her,” ending a quick smile before turning her attention to her newly arrived meal as Tae returns. The table is quiet as the two women eat. However, that ends when they’ve finished, Cheyanne stands, exclaiming, “Tali!”

            I frown slightly, as my eyes follow the smuggler as she walks to a taller blond Human woman wearing Jedi robes. My ears flick as I hear the Jedi say, “Hey Chey,” with a chuckle as she hugs the smuggler, which Tae laughs softly at as the three of us rise from the table. “Hi Tali, long time no see,” Tae states happily and I watch in amazement as the Jedi’s face lights up with a smile, “Stars Jessi.” I’m further surprised that the Jedi Knight, as I can see her lightsaber resting on her hip, tightly hugs my CO. I frown slightly, trying to wrap my head around how these three women know each other. However, I’ll save that for later as their hug continues and our time is passing, causing both Corso and I to cough. Cheyanne begins talking immediately, “So we’re all going to Coruscant. I’m going to find my ship,” I glance at her, as she snaps her mouth shut. Tae glances at her before continuing, “And I’m going because I’m now the CO of Havoc.” The Jedi Knight gives Tae a smile, “Congrats on the promotion Jess,” then turns to the Captain now frowning, “Why do you need to find your ship?” I hear a slight grown, emitting from Corso as he steps in front of her “Hey, leave her alone.” The Jedi frowns slightly, as she raises an eyebrow at Cheyanne, in a silent question. “Corso, it’s fine!” the smuggler exclaims harshly, her blue eyes narrowing at the Mantellian. Corso raises his hands in mock surrender “Sorry, I just don’t know who she is, and I don’t trust her especially if she talks to you like that, Captain.” Cheyanne rolls her eyes, as she scoffs, “She is my sister and a Jedi Knight, Corso, so she can talk to me however she pleases,” she huffs before walking off. The Jedi Knight sighs, “Sorry about that. I forgot to introduce myself, more worried about my sister. I’m Talia Draé,” she pauses when a little blue and white astromech droid bumps into her leg, “and this is T7.” She then turns to Tae, “Is she alright?” My CO shrugs, “Her ship got stolen the same day you found Allura and…” Talia Draé grimaces, “The same time Braden was killed.” Tae frowns slightly but nod as Corso and I share a questioning glance. When Corso goes to follow the ship less Captain, Draé stops him “I know you mean well, but when she is like this it’s best to let her cool down by herself.” Tae nod furiously, “Yeah, following her will only make it worse. I’ve learned from experience.” Draé chuckles, “I remember that. She frightened you so much, you wouldn’t be anywhere near her for a good month.” I glance rather amused at my CO as she furiously shakes her head, “Untrue! Oh, almost forgot this is Corso Riggs and this is my only squadmate, Aric Jorgan.” I internally curse, upset I forgot to introduce myself, but the Knight smiles, “Nice to meet you both.” Corso rubs the back of his head nervously “Sorry about what I said, I didn’t mean to offend.” She chuckles, “None taken I assure you.” He flashes her a smile.

            The captain comes back just after Draé has finished eating, so she stands when her sister approaches giving her a big hug. The captain returns the hug then pulls away, “Are we all set to go? The first shuttle should be here now.” Corso awkwardly gets up, “All set.” The younger Draé looks to Tae and myself, and we say together, “We’re good to go.” She then looks at her sister, who smiles, “I’m always ready.” The captain grins “Alright, let’s go.” The shuttle is waiting for us when we arrive, and we hurry abroad. The ride to Coruscant is slightly awkward and quiet, so we are all thankful when we land at the Spaceport. “So Master Alena wanted to speak with all of us,” Captain Draé says. I notice the two Draés seem to be having a silent conversation that ends with the Jedi rolling her eyes and nodding “Okay, so we’ll have to check in with Customs then we can head to the Senate Building.” And just as she finishes, A7, the droid from yesterday walks up, “Apologies young Mistresses, but urgent matters have changed Mistress Alena’s plans to speak with all of you privately.” The silver protocol droid turns to Jedi, “Young Mistress Talia, you are urgently required. Something awful has happened and you are needed.” The Knight grimaces as she nods “Of course, A7. Teeseven and I just need to go to Customs first.” A7 shakes his head “There is no need, I have already done so.” She sighs but nods, “Then lead the way. See you later.” We all nod before her and T7 follow the droid then the four of us split into pairs as we go check in.

            “Wow. You spend enough time on a backwater like Ord Mantell and you almost forget what a civilized planet is supposed to look like,” I state as I look around as Tae checks us in, “I did my officer training here, back before I was deployed to Ord Mantell. There was still a fair bit of reconstruction going on then, rebuilding things the Imperial destroyed. I still can’t believe the Empire managed to sack Coruscant back in the war. The capital of the entire Republic and they raided it like some Outer Rim mudball.” Tae walks to my side then, nodding, “Yeah, I remember that day. It was the worst day of my life. I had always thought that the capital would be better defended.” He nods, “The Republic committed its forces to engaging the Empire on outlying worlds. Defending Coruscant was an afterthought. Anyways, we should get moving—don’t want to keep anyone important waiting.” She chuckles slightly as she nods, before we walk over to the two smugglers, who just ended a holo, then together we head outside. As we walk toward the speeders, I mutter, “I’ve been to Coruscant twice, but it still amazes me. We’re standing in the beating heart of the Republic.” Tae motions to the Senate Tower in the distance, before speaking “So we’re going in there and you’re going…?” Captain Draé looks down at something and groans, “To Old Galactic Market.” I frown when I see both women’s disgust and unease, as Tae says, “Be careful out there.” The smuggler nods knowingly, “Good luck to you both.” As Tae and I continue, passing through the building where the city’s speeders are and back out into the Coruscanti sun whose light makes the exterior of the Senate’s Tower glisten, like a jewel before us. I whistle as we approach, the domed top beginning to shade us, “The Senate tower, I’ve never actually been inside before. I’m looking forward to it.” I see Tae glance at me, with a soft smile.

            “Yes, Senator Arnus, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I can assure you that I’ve seen no shred of proof supporting these rumors of a defection within SpecForce division,” we hear a feminine voice state as we approach General Garza’s office. “General, surely you understand, we need more than just your assurances in a matter of this…” the holographic Senator Arnus says before being interrupted by the woman herself, “My assurances are what you’re getting, Senator. They’ll have to be enough. Now if you’ll excuse me, I seem to have a guest,” as she sees us enter. “But Gen…” the Senator starts before Garza ends the call. “Impeccable timing, Lieutenant Tae. I’m General Garza. It’s good to finally meet you in person,” Garza says walking out from behind the holo-terminal. “It’s an honor to be here, General,” Tae states as we both sharply salute. “I have to congratulate you—surviving the ordeal on Ord Mantell took skill and courage. I’m impressed,” Garza states rather emotionlessly. I see Tae smile, timidly like she did when on Ord Mantell, “Just doing my duty.” I try not to smirk in pride, but can’t help looking at her approvingly as Garza continues, “All the same, you got more done than most other soldiers would have in the situation. Sergeant Jorgan, I’m pleased to have you with us as well. General Vander holds you in very high regard.” I swallow rather nervously, not expecting Garza to speak to me, “Thank you, sir. But General Vander has an odd way of showing his ‘regard.’” I notice Tae bite her lower lip, as Garza responds to me statement, “Vander did the best he could for you, Sergeant. And I’d say a position in the Republic’s most decorated Special Forces squad is doing very well indeed. It’s regrettable about Tavus and the others. I knew they were upset, but I never imagined they would be so foolish as to defect. Nevertheless, whatever your former squad-mates once were to us, they are now extremely dangerous enemies of the Republic.” Tae nods, a spark of determination coming to her blue eyes, “Protecting the Republic from its enemies is our duty.” Garza smiles, “I’m glad I can depend on you to do what’s necessary, Lieutenant.”

            “So, let’s load up a strike shuttle and hunt Tavus and the rest of them down like the scum they are,” I state once Garza finished. The greying Human woman chuckles, “I would very much like to give that order, Sergeant, but I’m afraid we’ve discovered some new information since you left Ord Mantell yesterday. Our intelligence shows that hundreds of other Special Forces soldiers have followed Tavus and defected to the Empire. In short, Lieutenant, we have a catastrophe on our hands.” Tae closes her eyes briefly, “I can’t believe so many soldiers could abandon our cause.” Garza nods grimly, “It’s a dire situation. But we aren’t out of options yet. We have one powerful asset that Tavus and his followers haven’t planned for: you. Tavus believes you’re dead on Ord Mantell, and that Havoc’s deflection is still a secret. Right now, Tavus will be securing his armament and supplies. We need to cut those supply line while he isn’t expecting it.” Tae nods, “Makes sense to me.” Garza smirks slightly nodding, “In the past, when Havoc needed supplies of the normal Republic channels. They purchase the items from underworld groups here on Coruscant. I have units working to cut off these underworld sources, but two organizations are proving difficult: The Black Sun and the Migrant Merchants’ Guild.” Tae grimaces, “I’ll take care of them for you, sir.” I grunt my approval and Garza smiles, “You’ll begin with the Migrant Merchants’ Guild. Out intelligence indicates that they’re supplying Tavus with a full platoon of advanced war droids. Your mission, in the broad strokes, will be to locate the droid shipments going to Tavus and destroy them.” Tae nods, “I’ll see it done.”

            Garza nods as well, “One of my people, Corporal Garrum, will meet you outside the Migrant Merchants’ Guild’s territory with the full operational details. These missions are critical, Lieutenant. Our future success or failure is contingent on how well-supplied Tavus and his followers are.” I clench my teeth, at the General’s tone as Tae states, “I won’t fail.” The General smiles approvingly, “Good. The safety of the entire Republic depends on your success. I’ll be observing your operations from here through your armor-cam. Good luck, Lieutenant—dismissed.” Tae is growling softly as we exit Garza’s office after saluting the General. I’m thankful that we are both wearing our uniforms, so the others can’t hear her stomps, not that they’re loud as of now. Her posture and angry demeanor would be unnoticeable to anyone else, but to a highly trained eye and someone familiar with Tae. As we walk through the decorated halls, I wonder what has her so agitated. I’m so distracted with my thoughts, I don’t notice that Tae is on a collision course with another, only noticing when I hear Tae exclaim, “Oh stars, I’m sorry Tali. I was lost in my thoughts.” Tae then turns to me, sharply, “Why didn’t you warn me?” I swallow, surprised at the venom in her voice as Draé cuts in “It’s fine, Jess, really. Where are you heading in such a hurry?” Tae turns facing the Jedi, sighing, “It’s something to do with the Migrant Merchants’ Guild.” Draé slightly smiles, “Same here.” Tae’s smile looks grateful as she responds, “Good then we can travel together. Cheyanne and Corso are already near there if I remember right.” The Jedi nods, then the four of us head to where the city speeders are, picking a couple then head to the Old Galactic Market.

            When we pass the Dealer’s Den Cantina, Captain Draé and a very irritated Corso emerge. “Okay, what happened?” the Jedi asks as soon as she sees the mood of the two. Corso looks at his Captain, “Are you going to tell her, or should I?” She simply scoffs and ignores him, “We have to go to the Migrant Merchants Guild headquarters and by the looks of it so are you four, mind if we tag along?” Her sister chuckles, “Of course not.” We all stop once again at the location of Corporal Garrum, myself following Tae inside. “Lieutenant Tae! Corporal Garrum, sir! Ready to brief you on the Migrant Merchants’ Guild at your command, sir!” he starts as soon as we enter already giving Tae a salute. I notice her slight frown as she returns the salute “Let’s get down to business.” Garrum nods, “Here’s the situation, sir. The Migrant Merchants’ Guild is a criminal organization comprised primarily of non-humans whose homes were destroyed by the Empire’s assault on Coruscant. They began squatting in this district and refused to leave when Republic security tried to push them out. There’s been an uneasy truce ever since.” My eyes widen hearing what’s happening in the Capital, as Tae simply nods, unsurprised, “What’s the op?”

            “General Garza informed me that your primary target within the guild is a cyborg inventor named Krel,” Garrum states, “Reports indicate that Krel’s strength and speed are at least triple the human norm with a genius-level intelligence to boot. Taking him down will be a real challenge, sir. Additionally, Krel has designed and constructed a full platoon of advanced war droids that we believe are intended for Tavus and the other SpecForce traitors.” I glance at Tae, “A full platoon is a lot of firepower to lose. Tavus is really going to feel this one.” Tae’s serious face, melts slightly as she smiles, which goes unnoticed as Garrum continues, “General Garza wants all of Krel’s war droids neutralized before they can be shipped out, sir.” Tae nods, serious expression returning, “Take out everything that clanks when it walks—no problem,” I slightly smile at that. “Krel has his war droids patrolling the Mirant Merchants’ Guild base. General Garza wants them all found and destroyed,” Garrum states. Tae nod once more, “Consider it done.” Garrum slightly smiles, “That concludes the briefing, sir. Good luck and good hunting.” Both Tae an I put on our armor before we rejoin the group and head to the Guild’s territory. I nearly groan aloud, “Barricades, armed standoffs… it feels like we’re back on Ord Mantell, not the capital of the Republic.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tae nod in agreement. I nearly whistle once more, as I see the Jedi knight leap in the middle of the largest group of guild members while Cheyanne, Corso, and Tae shoot from the nearest cover, with myself as a sniper and T7, our healer and support. We clear a path together until Cheyanne and Corso leave us to complete whatever they need to then Tae, Talia, T7 and I continue until we reach the warehouse the Knight enters with a nod. Further, into the Guild’s territory, we start running across the war droid containers, which Tae and I each destroy whenever we run across one before entering the laboratory. As we enter, there are two sentry droids and two technicians behind the front desk. Jorgan and I look at each other before opening fire and killing the techs and destroying the droids, then we turn right to destroy the droids in there and a large prototype war droid before going a crossed the hall further into the lab. After destroying all the droids, we finally come across Krel, himself, protected by a force field, which we ‘disabled.’

            “Republic scum. Do you believe you can come here and destroy my creations without conscience?” Krel exclaims once he sees us, “When you die here today, your feeble Republic will learn what it means to meddle in my work.” Tae scoffs, rolling her eyes, “In the name of the Republic, I order you to surrender.” He scoffs, “Surrender? To you? Don’t be ridiculous. I could crush your skull with a single hand. You’re far too late—my plans are already in motion. Soon, the people of this world will be brought to their knees by my greatest creations. My masterpieces.” I internally curse, as Tae states, “What are you talking about, Krel?” He smirks, “I have taken ordinary humans off the streets and implanted several of them with advanced cybernetic enhancements. Their abilities now rival even my own. The cyborgs’ enhancements are internal and undetectable. The subjects themselves don’t know who among them was augmented. And neither will anyone else—until it’s much too late.” Tae slightly growls, “I’m going to make you pay for hurting those people, Krel.” He chuckles darkly, “Fool. This cannot end in any way but your death. After you’ve been dealt with, I’ll release my creations back to their normal lives, to wait until my hidden programming activates.” I glance down at Tae, “This guy is full of it. I don’t buy any of this.” Krel continues, “Once my masterpieces begin their work, the people of Coruscant will never be safe again.” Tae’s eyes darken, “That’s not going to happen.” He chuckles then smirks, “You can do nothing to stop it. All you can do now is die. Destroy her,” then he has four guard droids attack us as well as himself. As soon as Krel falls dead, Tae’s holo chimes, groaning she answers it. “Come in, Lieutenant. I want you to move immediately and destroy the cyborgs that Krel created,” Garza states as soon as she appears, “We need to deal with them now before they can disappear into the normal population. These situations are never easy—these people did not choose to be what they now are. But many more lives could be at stake. You have to eliminate Krel’s creations.” Tae closes her eyes, “We can’t know for sure if Krel was telling the truth, sir.” I can see her jaw tighten, “Whether Krel was bluffing or not, these cyborgs are a risk we cannot allow. I’m giving you the kill order, Lieutenant. I take full responsibility for the consequences. Now get it done.” Tae’s eyes narrow slightly at that, “Killing these people is wrong and you know it, Garza.” I nod in agreement, thankfully out of view of the holo. “It’s right for the Republic. That’s our only concern,” Garza says, and even I can say I’m uneasy about this, “Garza out.” Tae stuffs the holo away angrily, as I state, “This is a waste of time. We should be going after the traitors, not gunning people down just because some madman said they’re dangerous.” Tae breathes in deeply “I know, Jorgan, that’s why we aren’t, I don’t care what she says.” I glance at her approvingly, rather surprised she’s going to ignore a direct order, “Whatever we’re going to do, let’s do it fast.” Tae nods in agreement before heading to find where Krel’s ‘weapon’s’ are. “Stay back! The door is locked and sealed! You can’t get in!” says a feminine voice on the other side of the door, “We heard all of the fighting, and we heard you talking to that freak Krel! We’re not coming out until you swear you won’t hurt us!” Tae sighs, “Just open the door, let’s talk about this.”

            “But we’re not cyborgs!” comes another voice masculine this time, “I’d know if I was some half-machine freak! This is insane!” I fight a chuckle as we hear another man’s voice, “You out there! Listen—I’m not sure about these others, but I can assure you that I’m not a cyborg!” Tae sighs again, looking up at me as I frown at the door, as the first man says, “What? Are you calling me a freak like Krel? I’m not a freak! Maybe you’re the cyborg, and you’re trying to trick everyone!” Tae groans, facepalming, as the argument continues, “I am not! He spent far more time operating on you that he did on me, so if anyone is…” Thankfully the woman interrupts, “Both of you stop it! None of us are cyborgs! That’s all there is to it!” Tae closes her eyes, rubbing her temples, “Prove you aren’t cyborgs, and I’ll let you go.” The woman answers this time, “What do you mean, ‘prove we aren’t cyborgs?’ You might as well ask us to prove we’re not rancors! It’s obvious, isn’t it? This is insane! Even if a few of us are cyborgs, would you really murder all of us just to be sure none of the cyborgs escape?” Tae groans and closing her eyes once, “You’re right… this is absurd. I can’t do this.”

            “Then you won’t hurt us? You’ll let us go?” the woman says. “Give me your names and identification numbers, and I’ll let you go,” Tae states, I nod in agreement, _smart move. If Garza wants them dealt with that her do it._ “What? So, you can track us and kill us later? No way!” the first man exclaims. “If it gets us out of here alive, then it’s worth it. We’ll put the information on a data pad for you, soldier. Okay, stand back—I’m going to open the door.” She pauses as the door opens and three humans walk out, “Here’s the data, soldier. Thank you for sparing us. Let’s go home, everyone!” Tae gives them a smile, “Stay safe out there.” The woman smiles, “Thanks again soldier. Farewell.” As soon as they walk away, Tae’s holo chimes again and Garza appears, “Lieutenant! My orders were perfectly clear: eliminate Krel’s cyborgs.” That steely determination is back in her eyes as she answers, “With all due respect, General, I could not obey those orders.” Garza’s eyes narrow slightly, “My orders are not polite suggestions, Lieutenant. You don’t choose to follow them—you follow them. When you are on a mission, you listen to my orders then your brain, then your heart. In that order. There’s no room for sentiment in our line of work. There should be similarly little room for it in you, or we’re doomed to fail.” My eyes widen, as Tae passionately says, “If we’re heartless, what separates us from the Empire?”

            “We are heartless so that the people of the Republic don’t have to be, Lieutenant. So that the Republic does not become the Empire. Always remember that. Return to my office now—we need to discuss your next assignment. Garza out.” Tae is growling once more as we exit, but now I can basically follow her train of thought. She states angry glares at anyone making their way towards us, knowingly or otherwise. Surprising that wards off many attacks as the Jedi rejoins us. “Oh, there you are,” Tae exclaims, “thought you left already.” The Knight chuckles sadly “No, had to get some information on some classified project, only the thing is I’m not so sure it’s classified anymore.” Though I’m slightly puzzled, I keep an eye out for enemies, spotting a patrol heading for us, “Story for another time!” We fight through them and head back the way we came just as a smiling Cheyanne and a grumpy Corso exit the Dealers Den cantina for the second time. “Bout time you four finished!” The smuggler exclaims when she sees us, “Cowboy and I almost have our next clue on finding Skavak.” I notice the Jedi knight look at Tae questioningly, then my CO whispers something that makes the Jedi groan then sigh, “Come on guys, there’s a security breach I have to deal with.” Captain Draé chuckles as we all head to the city speeders and return to the Senate tower where Talia, T7, Tae and I enter while the other two explore the parks outside.

            “Ah, Lieutenant, I trust no more need to be said about your work against the Migrant Merchants’ Guild. Let’s move on to your next target: The Black Sun. A powerful organization composed of Coruscant’s most violent criminals,” Garza pauses as she begins pacing, “Black Sun has a wide network of sources providing them with the deadliest weaponry available, including a powerful nerve agent that they’re selling to Tavus in bulk.” Tae sighs, not so silently, “We can’t let that nerve gas reach Tavus.” Garza smiles slightly, “A SpecForce sergeant, Jaxo, has carried out some advance reconnaissance of Black Sun’s headquarters. Tomorrow, you’ll rendezvous with her for a detailed plan of attack. We can’t risk any of this nerve gas failing into Tavus’ hands, Lieutenant. Use all necessary force. Dismissed.” We leave with a parting salute, before exiting her office. As we start heading to the front of the tower we run a crossed four apparent acquaintances of the Lieutenant. Three must be Jedi Masters, as there's an aura of calm and peace emanating from them, male and female Humans, and a female Togruta the fourth is a Mon Calamari, a General, who breaks the silence, “Ah, what a pleasant surprise. I heard about your promotion, Lieutenant Tae, congratulations. Your grandfather would be proud.” Tae salutes him which causes him to chuckle as she turns to the Jedi Masters. “Master Alena,” she starts after glancing at me momentarily, “I’m sorry we couldn’t meet with you earlier, but I hope we see you at the Sky Palace.” Jedi Master Alena nods, “That I will. Have a good day, Lieutenant Tae.” Tae smiles saluting, “You as well, Master Alena.” Then the three Masters and the General continue walking. Tae glances at me, as my eyes follow the retreating figures, “Shall we go find Cheyanne and Corso?” I nod, “First, can we go by the memorial of the fallen soldiers.” Tae releases a soft nearly nonexistent sigh, as her eyes close and she nods, “Sure.”

            The Memorial is on the right side of the Tower if you are exiting the Senate tower, and once we reach it, Tae lags slightly behind, letting me lead us through the Memorials. As I walk through, I touch each name and whispering a Catharese death prayer as I go. Tae apparently zones out as she runs into me, once I stop staring at a statue of a Cathar General. I glance at her, noticing she frozen behind me, a single tear falling down her face leaving a wet trail of fur in its wake. Caught off guard, and trying to resist the temptation of wiping her tear away, I clear my throat, “Um, I think we should get going.” She nods, turning away from the Memorial without another word, I, however, glance back at it my eyes lingering on the General’s last name, Tae. Our search for Cheyanne and Corso takes us to yet another statue this one of two Human Jedi, a male, and female: the man is holding a saberstaff while the woman has two lightsabers. Corso has his arms tightly and protectively wrapped around Cheyanne. “Oh Chey, why did you walk here?” Tae says, causing the smuggler to pull away slightly to look at her best friend, and I can see the tears running down her face freely. Tae motions for the smuggler to come to her which she does, and they tightly hug one another as Tae says, “Our ride will be here soon.” Just as she finishes, A7 approaches in a speeder, “Good evening.” Captain Draé smiles adoringly at the droid, and I notice Corso frown as it gets out and helps the two women into the speeder. Once they’re seated, they turn to look at Corso and I, still unmoving. Draé rolls her eyes, “Are you coming with or do you have another place to stay?” which spurs us both into getting in the speeder.

            Corso and I are both too busy taking everything in, to talk as our speeder ascents higher and higher into the darkening Coruscanti sky. The view is awe-inspiring, even better than when we arrived in the shuttle. Our landing only gave us a small glance at the city world compared to what we’re seeing now. And only makes me wonder, where we’re going, and as I tear my eyes away from the skyline glancing at the two women in front of us, who are more engrossed in talking then the scenery around them, just who is my CO. I shake it off, returning to look around as we continue our journey into the sky. I tear my eyes away just as the speeder starts slowing down, Corso and I frowning at each as there’s nothing around us except the tops of the skyscrapers. We both stand corrected, our mouths falling open has a landing platform appears, connected to one of the most stunning houses I’ve ever seen, floating peacefully in the sky. That’s where A7 lands us, leaping out and helping the women out of the speeder as we hastily follow. It escorts us inside where he turns to Corso and I. “Welcome to the Sky Palace! If you both would follow me please, I will give you a tour and show you where you’ll be staying while you are here.” We look over at Tae and the captain who shoos us away. The droid’s tour was very informational but allowed us to see that the interior is just as stunning, if not more so than all of Coruscant. After the tour, A7 walks us out a hallway stopping by two chrome doors, “These will be your rooms for the duration of your stay. If you need anything, please ask either myself or one of the house droids. Have a pleasant night.” With that, the droid walks away, and we follow him back to the entry room where Tae is still standing glancing around the room with a smile. The smile widens when she spots us, “Hey guys, how was the tour?” We look at each other and Corso speaks first, “I haven’t seen anything like it.” I chuckle but nod in agreement. Tae smiles once, looking around “Yeah, I’d say this is one of a kind, which it is, sort of.” I frown, slightly confused, and Tae chuckles, “Most of their strongholds are unique but this one as a twin and is made to be reminiscent of their childhood home but isn’t an exact copy.” We both nod then Corso asks, “Where is the Captain?” Tae raises an eyebrow and he blushes, “I mean… Cheyanne.” Tae chuckles, smiling, “She’s apparently getting ready for a date.” Corso groans, “She’s really going?!” looking like a beaten pup. At Tae’s nod, he groans and begins pacing.

            He paces until we hear a feminine chuckle, “So what’s going on?” Both Corso and I jump before grabbing tour weapons and aiming them at the newcomer, who chuckles again and waves her hand making the weapons fly out of reach. Causing Tae to chuckle “Boys, I’d like to introduce Jedi Master Alena Draé, our host and Cheyanne’s and Talia’s mother.” We immediately freeze, Corso with a groan and myself internally cursing before clearing my throat and saluting her. “Good evening, boys. Sorry to startle you,” Alena says smiling before turning to Tae, “Jessi! I’m so happy to see you! Congratulations on the promotion and becoming the CO of Havoc. Though I’m sorry it came the way it did. I knew Tavus very well. I never thought I’d see the day he thought better of the Empire than the Republic.” The Jedi Knight gasps, “He defected?” Tae nods solemnly, “My whole squad did. Jorgan got demoted because of it while I got promoted because I was the last remaining member of Havoc.” The Knight closes her eyes then goes to give Tae a hug whispering something.

            “So, where’s Cheyanne? I didn’t see Lady Luck on the landing pad!” The Jedi Master states once the hug is over. Tae grimaces, but its Talia who answers, “Um, Mom… Lady Luck got stolen a couple days ago.” Master Alena sighs, “I warned her. But that doesn’t answer my question.” Corso clears his throat “Sorry, ma’am but Captain… um, Cheyanne is preparing to head out in town.” Alena rolls her eyes, “Should have known. You are?” Corso closes his eyes and groans “Um, Corso Riggs, ma’am. I’m helping your daughter find her ship.” She nods, “Well, I’m glad she has a young man, such as yourself, helping her. Force knows she needs it.” Talia slightly chuckles, “Is she going out to spend time with that man from the cantina?” Corso looks at her surprised, “Yeah, she is… How do you know that?” She smiles, “I have my ways,” before heading up the stairs. Alena claps her hands together, “Well, gentlemen make yourselves at home. I assume that A7 has already shown you around?” They both nod, and she smiles brightly, “Excellent. I’ll see you all at supper,” she looks up the stairs and mutters, “hopefully,” before walking away.

            Once she’s gone, both Corso and I relax. “She’s not that scary,” Tae states, shaking her head, “Hey, why don’t I show you one of my favorite rooms.” Corso and I share a look before nodding, Tae rolls her eyes then leads us seamlessly through the mazelike hallways until she stops at a chrome door that opens revealing a well-furbished training room. Corso and I hurry back to our rooms, only getting lost a couple times, to change into our workout clothes. Surprisingly we find the room easier than we found our own rooms, almost like something was guiding us. Tae joins us in our workout, hitting training dummies. I’m only pulled back into reality when Talia comes in and asks, “So who is Reki?” Tae stops mid hit, “I have no clue.” Corso also stops, looking at Talia questioningly. The Jedi then asks him, “You know him?” Corso nods, “Yeah. Reki is an old childhood friend of mine from Ord Mantell.” Talia closes her eyes, “And how does he know my sister?” Corso grimaces, “That’s where her ship got stolen. She went to Reki for help.” She nods, “Thanks.” He looks down before looking back up at her, “Why?” She shrugs, “He just holoed her.” He groans, mumbling “Great, I have him to compete with now too.” Talia and Tae make brief eye contact before the Jedi leaves, I shake my head before returning to my assault on the dummy _._ “Hey guys,” Captain Cheyanne Draé says as she enters a bit later, dressed in a midnight blue dress. I can hear Corso swallow, as Tae looks up and smiles, “You look incredible, Chey!” She smiles brightly at her best friend, “Thanks, Jess. I thought this was safe.” Tae chuckles at that, “On you, nothing is safe.” The smuggler lightly hits her on the arm with a smile before turning and walking out. As she does, Corso groans, beginning to punch his training dummy hard, mumbling under his breathe with every punch. Tae and I share a look, before she says, “She’ll come around Corso. Just give her time and be there when she needs you.” Corso looks up, glancing at her and she gives him an encouraging smile which he returns with a nod before walking out. He returns a bit later, smiling softly. I roll my eyes at him before returning to my training but not before my eyes unconsciously linger on Tae.


	5. Grunt Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Underlined words are 'translated' into Basic [English]*  
> *See notes at the end of the chapter to learn the meanings of the superscript words*  
> *Underlined and italicized words are ship names*  
> Because I've been a bad poster, I'm giving you Aric's PoV of Coruscant. Mostly because I finished it. Lol. :) Enjoy!

=-=-=-=-=-=

            I wake with a groan and a stretch, silently cursing the softness of the bed that I do not want to leave. I stretch one more time once my feet hit the softness of the carpet below, which I curl my toes into as I glance at my datapad with Tae’s file on the screen. It’s surprising how little is said about her personally, her family and history outside of the Academy. Professionally it’s filed to the brim with praise on her missions, each of them successful. So, I’m finding it as no surprise that she joined Havoc at only nineteen. When I was nineteen, I was still serving under Vorne with the Deadeyes, _she’s definitely impressive._ I shake my head, dispersing the darker thoughts, as I dress for an early workout. Heading out the door, I notice that Riggs has the same idea as we greet each other with a simple nod, walking to the training room. We stay in there sparring with one another and warming up until the sun starts shining through the window, and we hear sounds of life moving in the house. Meandering to the kitchen, we run across Tae who’s heading down the stairs, dressed simply. “Good morning! Did you sleep well?” she asks, smiling softly, her eyes taking in Corso’s and I’s attire. Corso returns her smile easily, “Yes. It's very peaceful here, with no war going on outside.” She chuckles, her eyes softening as she thinks of the planet we met on, “Yeah, I bet,” pausing, sniffing the air, causing me to do the same “Smells like breakfast is cooking. Come on,” motioning for us to follow. The image we’re met with inside is one I was not expecting watching the Jedi Master hovering over the stove as she cooks. The young Knight is already sitting down, her eyes tearing away from her mother to look at us as we enter. “Something sure smells good,” Corso announces. Master Alena smiles, glancing back at us with a wink, “I’d sure hope so, Corso. Wouldn’t want to be ruining my best meal.” Tae snorts, unbelieving, “Everything you make is delicious.” I chuckle silently, pleasantly surprised that this is a recurring thing as one normally does with droids, they do it.

            Alena glances back at my CO, her blue-green eyes crinkling, “Thank you, Jessi,” as she puts plates in front of the four of us plus another with a cup of caff. On Tae’s opposite, I notice the young Jedi glancing around before looking at her mother. The Jedi Master sighs and opens the fridge to get butter, setting it in front of her then begins searching the cabinets for what appears to be sugar. The young Knight grins at her when she places the sugar in front of her along with a spoon. I watch in slight fascination as she then puts sugar on her now buttered hotcakes. “Your father ruined you,” Alena mutters as she returns to cooking, beside me, Tae chuckles. She jumps slightly when the door opens once more, and the youngest Draé walks in. Both her sister and my CO are openly staring at her, more like gawking, as the smuggler happily sits down at her sister’s side. She flashes everyone a smile, “Good morning!” then grabs the butter and sugar from her sister and doing the same. I take it that this is not normal as the older sister groans “Please, tell me you didn’t?!” Cheyanne looks up at her innocently, “I have no idea what you are talking about, my dear sister,” ending with a wink. Talia’s eyes narrow, almost dangerously, “Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about. So, I’m asking, did you?” The younger sister smirks, “No, I did not. I can be a morning person sometimes.” Both women snort, tearing Corso’s attention from the food as stare at them. Mother and youngest daughter start giggling at that, causing Tae and Talia to glance between the two. “If you must know, I came home at a rather reasonable hour, thank you very much,” Cheyanne states simply, recovering and now eating her hotcakes. Alena nods, “And he seemed very nice.” Tae’s mouth falls open a bit at that, and Talia’s eyes widen, “You met him?” Alena chuckles, “I did. I must say Cheyanne’s taste has greatly improved.” The girl in question blushes before saying “Yes, Ord Mantell did quite a number on me.” Talia sighs, apparently going to ignore her sister’s comment, “So where is everyone heading?”

            “Jorgan and I have to go into the Black Suns territory…” Tae states, matter-of-factly. Cheyanne smiles, “Same here.” Then both look at the questioner as she says, “Same.” Cheyanne smiles and we fall silent until we're all finished eating, Corso and I refueling ourselves after our early workout. After we finished, manly us as we had six plates of hotcakes, Tae and I head upstairs to put on our armor. “That was interesting,” I mutter under my breath as we go up. Tae hears me and looks over questioningly, but I shrug much to her irritation as she sighs as we separate. After we return downstairs, A7 drives us all to the Black Sun Territory. There’s A Human male with cybernetics around his left eye, styled dark brown hair with hazel brown eyes anxiously waiting nearby. My eyes narrow at him, as there’s something about his presence that’s vaguely familiar, nearly militaristic. We find out he’s waiting for our Jedi Knight as T7 beeps happily when it sees him. Everything about this guy smells spook, from his cautiousness to his eyes surveying each of us than our surroundings. I can tell he’s taken notice of all the weaponry that Riggs has as he approaches warily. Talia gives him a warm smile, “Hey Theron, this is my sister Cheyanne, her business partner Corso Riggs. And…” the man, Theron, finishes for her, “Lieutenant Jessica Tae and Sergeant Aric Jorgan of Havoc Squad. The two of you have been quite talked about lately.” My eyes narrow, _definitely_ _a spook._ “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Theron,” Cheyanne states before asking, “You’re helping Tali with her problem?” My eyebrow crinkle, wondering why the Knight is working with the SIS. The spook, Theron, chuckles, looking at said Jedi, “Trying too.” I raise an eyebrow wondering what's going on as he continues, “Well, come on Tali,” she glares at him which causes him to chuckle. I notice the girls share a glance.

My theory of Theron being a spy is further proven as I see how well he’s been trained, looking more professional with his two dual blasters than the ship-less Captain. Tae and I are the first to separate, so we can speak with Sergeant Jaxo. “Hey there, you must be the new Havoc CO. I'm Ava Jaxo. It's good to meet you,” the Sergeant, a young woman, states as we enter her base of operations. My jaw tightens at the Sergeant casual behavior and attitude with her superior. “Likewise, Jaxo,” Tae responds just as casually, and I frown seeing her small, but there, smile. She returns the smile before going straight to business, “Your highly enviable task is to destroy a cache of nerve gas canisters that Black Sun syndicate is shipping to Tavus. The gas is called Trivoris. Scary stuff—one canister can cover a square kilometer, with one hundred percent fatality inside of ten minutes.” I wince as Tae grimaces, “Do we have any way to safely deal with this stuff?” She smiles somewhat sadly, “Lucky for us, it's pretty easy to neutralize Trivoris—at least while it's in the canisters,” she holds up something, “The compound in this bottle renders Trivoris completely inert on contact. Just plug it into the canisters inside the Black Sun base, and the whole batch is history.” _Thankfully_ , Tae nods, “Sounds easy enough.” She rolls her eyes, “Yeah, but you'll have to shoot your way past Black Sun's toughest enforcers to do it. You also have another objective. A few hours ago, a bright red case was moved into the Black Sun's base under heavy guard. If whatever's inside that case is valuable to Black Sun, it's bad news for us. So, your job will be to find the case and bring me it's contents.” I nearly huff, as Tae nods, “Consider it done.” Jaxo smiles, “One last detail: Black Sun has signal jammers throughout their base, so General Garza won't know to send help if you get in over your head.”

            “I'll be sure to stay alert,” Tae states, and I glance at her to see her firm nod. “I'm sure you can handle yourself, but I wanted to be sure you got all the facts,” Jaxo states, “Once you've taken care of the Trivoris canisters and nabbed whatever's inside that red case, be sure to meet me back here to confirm the mission results. Good luck, Lieutenant.” My CO nods once more before we exit, rejoining with the sisters, Corso, Theron, and T7. After dozens of more fights, we finally reach the Republic Barricade, where everyone follows Jedi inside. After two brief firefights, we finally find the soldiers and they escort us to their CO. The four of us hang back as Talia, Theron, and T7 go up to the sergeant. Their talk clearly isn't going well, as even I can tell the Jedi is getting irritated, tapping on her leg then I feel a soothing calmness that she must be the heart of. We hear nothing until Talia passionately says, “If you surrender now, your soldiers will have died in vain. Is that what you want? What about the man inside that base waiting to be rescued? You’d abandon him? This is a moment of truth, Sergeant. Do you give up and let evil win, or stand up and fight?” My eyes widen, impressed at the amount of passion and emotion the women that Tae grew up around have, as I watch her smile proudly.

            After that, the conversation is quite short, the soldiers seeing the Jedi’s side as the sergeant says, “Let’s double-time it, men! Move, move!” Once we’re out of the barricade, I hear a slightly panicked, “Tali?” Looking back and see ing the Jedi leaning against the wall a few steps from the entrance to the barricade, her sister hovering at her side. Something must be wrong as Cheyanne, Theron and T7 all look concerned and keep glancing at her as we continue, removing the remaining gangsters as Theron shuts down terminals. Once we reach Black Suns headquarters, Talia is very pale but still helps as much as she can nevertheless. Thankfully as we clear out the headquarters, Tae and I find the canisters containing the Trivous, neutralize them, and find the red case Jaxo mentioned which contains a single blaster. Once we enter where Talia, Theron, and T7 need to go, Theron motions for us to follow after he casts a nervous look at Talia. Tae and Cheyanne share a look before motioning for Riggs and I to watch their backs when they follow them inside. I silently curse but nevertheless do as they asked, knowing they should have it covered, whatever it is. Corso and I silently guard their exit, until we worryingly hear someone inside exclaim, “Kill them all!” Riggs and I glance at one another before running inside, hoping that they are not outnumbered. They aren’t whatsoever but that doesn’t stop us from joining the small army fighting the gangsters. “Can’t believe it! We just took down Salaar. Black Sun won’t forget that anytime soon,” the sergeant from barricade states after the brief firefight, “We lost some good soldiers, but this victory gives their deaths meaning.” Riggs and I join the others as they go stand by visibly shaken Talia as she turns to the three soldiers, “Your men fought bravely. You should be proud.” He nods, “Thanks for leading this mission. Black Sun will have reinforcements coming soon. Any sign of the man you came to rescue?” Just then the holo behind us beeps and we all turn to see another Jedi, by the looks of her, appears, “There you are… we intercepted Salaar’s holocall to Tarnis. Can’t believe he’s a Sith!” I glance at the women, noticing they’re just as shaken as the Jedi Knight. Master Alena appears next to her, “But that’s not the worst news. The Planet Prison prototype here at the lab? A fake.” _That doesn’t sound good._ Tali groans as she continues, “Tarnis stole the real one.” A low growl enters Theron’s voice, “Have you traced that holocall?” The Jedi rolls her eyes, “Already working on it.” Alena sighs, “We need you both back at the Senate Tower. Alena and Kira out,” then they both disappear. “Sounds like your work is just starting,” the trooper says behind us, “We won’t hold you up. Goodbye, Jedi,” as he salutes her. “Talia, please. Draé, if you must. It was an honor to work with you, Sergeant,” she pauses looking at the two others, “and your men,” before we all exit.

            “You go on ahead, Tali,” Cheyanne says once we’re outside the headquarters. Tae nods in agreement, and even I’m getting worried about her, “There’s still things we need to do but your mission is too important to wait.” The Jedi sighs but nods looking at Theron, who says, “Shall we?” She rolls her eyes, but they leave together and as they walk away her sister smirks whispering something to Tae who eventually rolls her eyes, saying louder, “Come on, we have work to do,” as we head back toward the barricade where the smugglers separate from us and we continue to Jaxo. “Hey, you're back! Was the op a success? Were you able to neutralize the Trivoris?” Jaxo asks, speaking quickly. I nearly groan as Tae smiles, amusement in her eyes, “Mission complete.” She tilts her head, “How about that red case? Were you able to grab whatever was inside?” My CO nods, “Black Sun has kindly supplied this blaster to aid the Republic war effort,” finishing with a slight smirk as she takes out the blaster and hands it to her. Her eyes widen as she takes it, “I've never seen one quite like it. Must be some sort of new prototype. I'll take it back to Headquarters for analysis—maybe we can find out where Black Sun is getting their weapons. Guess we're through here, then. It's been fun, Lieutenant. I hope we get to run together again sometime.” I roll my eyes as Tae smiles, “Same here.” Just as we walk outside the room, Tae’s holo chimes. Looking at her curiously as she sighs before answering it, “Come in, Lieutenant. This is General Garza. A situation has developed with the Senate, and I need your help.” My eyes widen, _the Senate…_ Tae groans, “What can I do to help, sir?” clearing already fearing what the General will ask. “Despite my best efforts, four members of the Senate Defense Committee have learned about Havoc Squad's defection, and they want to know the specifics. It's an 'informal inquiry' for the time being. But you can bet it won't end there. I hate politics.” _So do I…_ I look sympathetically at Tae, who groans once more, “I'm not sure sending me is in your best interests, General.” My eyebrows knit together, very puzzled as Garza tilts her head, “I don't have a choice, Lieutenant. The Senators have asked for you personally. You'll go to their office at the Senate tower immediately to testify in the inquiry. I'm barred from influencing your testimony, but I will remind you that the more information that becomes public, the harder our job becomes. The Senators are already waiting. Hurry back to the Senate tower and try to get this over with quickly. Garza out.”

            Tae groans for the third time once the call ends, though this time I add my own, “As if we didn't have enough problems already…” She glances at me before nodding in agreement as we walk back to where we were dropped off. We get a taxi speeder to drive us to the Senate Tower. Tae seems to get more and more anxious as we enter and head toward the office as Tae’s holo chimes again. She sighs, stopping to answer it, “Not a good time, Chey.” The smuggler simply raises an eyebrow, “What’s wrong?” Tae suddenly sounds tired, “Have to smooth out some feathers. We’ll be a while.” She nods “Okay, take care.” Tae nods attempts a smile before the call ends. “Lieutenant Jessica Tae, make yourself comfortable. On behalf of the Senate of the Galactic Republic, I want to thank you for appearing on such short notice for this informal inquiry,” the head of the committee, the senator from Garza's holo terminal yesterday, states as we enter the room. “I am Senator Arnus,” the Human male continues, “leader of this committee.” He pauses motioning to a female Mirialan, “Senator Voralla from Mirial,” then motions to one of the male Cathars in the room, “Senator Zorin Krasul from Anaxes.” The fourth member stands up, the second Cathar, tan with blue eyes, and Arnus continues, “And I'm sure you know our fourth member, Senator Ethan Tae from Chandrila.” I try hard not to let my surprise show and the Cathar’s name, my mind trying to remember where Tae, my Tae… My CO… is from. I draw a blank as Tae glances at the last introduced Senator with a brief nod as we take a seat and Arnus continues, “And this is the second senator from Chandrila, Senator Elizabeth Price. She's here for special reasons.” My eyes flick to the only Human woman as she smiles softly at Tae, who swallows as her eyes briefly close like she’s in pain. Arnus continues once more, “I assure you we will not hold you from your duties any longer than necessary, Lieutenant.”

            “The purpose of this inquiry,” Voralla begins, “is to investigate the defection of several members of Republic Army Special Forces squad number 326, codenamed 'Havoc Squad,' to the Sith Empire.” Tae swallows, her back straightening as Senator Tae asks, “Now, you recently served in Havoc Squad on Ord Mantell, Lieutenant. Is that correct?” I notice that Tae glances at Price before answering with a simple a casual, “That's right.” Ethan continues, “While serving on Ord Mantell, all the members of Havoc Squad, excluding yourself, defected to the Sith Empire. Is that correct?” I glance at her, _the moment of truth, Tae. What are you going to do? Be truthful or follow orders…_ Her posture shrinks slightly as her eyes close, and she breathes in shakily, and I nearly interrupt, getting worried about her. Finally, she speaks, “Yes, my squad defected right in front of me. Told the Imperials to kill me.” When she finishes, her eyes open zeroing in on her questioner, who’s staring at the floor and Price swallows. I’m impressed at the strength in her voice as the next question is fired off. “Now, did Commander Tavus or any of the other members of Havoc show signs of, say.... instability? Anger? Frustration?” Arnus asks this time. Tae looks at him as she answers, “Yes, they were all pretty angry at the Republic.” I look over at her, wondering how her squad’s defection has affected her, and why I haven’t thought of this before… “Lieutenant, let us speak hypothetically: Do you believe that anyone serving on Ord Mantell should have seen this coming?” Arnus continues, I wince wondering how she’ll answer. She simply shakes her head, “I don't think anyone could, sir.” Arnus states softly, “Commander Tavus and the others must have been quite subtle indeed,” his eyes briefly flicking to me, And I begin wondering if I could of… _If I’d been more observe of Tavus and not so hard on her I might have noticed something was off. I’ve worked with him enough that I should have._ I glance at Tae wondering if I could’ve prevented all of this… “I have one final question, Lieutenant,” Arnus continues, “What connection, if any, exists, between the events that occurred on Ando Prime and Havoc Squad's decision to defect to...” Voralla interrupts him, “Senator Arnus, I would remind you that the circumstances of Ando Prime are classified and occurred before the Lieutenant's involvement in Havoc,” she turns to Tae, “You may ignore that question, Lieutenant.” Tae looks down to the surface of the table as she answers the question anyway, “Ando Prime was their main reason. They said that the Republic doesn't value her warriors anymore,” now looking up, directly at the Senator who shares her last name, “They felt that the Republic abandoned them.” Senator Tae’s jaw tightens, his eyes flicking away from her stare, and I begin to wonder about their story as they’re obviously familiar. The Senators look at each other before Krasul says, “Your part in this inquiry is concluded. You may return to your duties now.” Tae nods sniffly, raising from her seat, myself following her lead. Once we're outside the room, she leans heavily against the nearest wall to rein, her eyes closed as she leans her head back on it. I frown, leaning on the wall a short distance from her, “I thought we weren't supposed to say too much.” I watch her throat as she chuckles, rather darkly, “I told her sending me wasn't a good idea.”

            “It's not like that would have helped anything with,” Tae stops midsentence as the door to the office reopens and two Chandrilan Senators exit. “Oh, Jess,” Price exclaims before wrapping Tae in what as to be a crushing hug which my CO returns. _So, the other Tae isn’t the only one she knows_ , as Tae says, “Hey Liz,” after the hug ends. The male Tae clears his throat “Hey, little sister.” My eyes flick to him instantly, _they’re siblings…?_ I silently curse as my CO narrows her eyes at him dangerously, “Really?! You've decided I'm your sister again!?” My eyes widen at her bitter and icy tone as her brother grimaces, “You were never not my sister, Jess. I'm sorry if you ever thought so.” Tae growls, and I begin to worry if she’ll attack him, “Lies, Ethan. You haven't spoken to me since I entered the Academy here on Coruscant. In fact, not a single member of our 'beloved' family as even contacted me. So, don't.” He looks down clearly ashamed as his sister’s rant continues, “You know who was there for me, the Draés. The family who lost their own daughter and parents in a single day. They were there for me even when I told them not to be. So, don't you dare tell me that I've 'always' been your sister.” She finishes with a precise turn, marching down the hall away from him. I give the senators a rough salute before basically scrambling to catch up to the furious CO. I reach her side just as I hear a slap. Her pace is unforgiving, and I note that if we ever run together again, not to let her set our pace. I’m panting when we reach Garza’s office while Tae’s still fuming. Garza’s eyes widen as she bites her lip then looks at me as I shake my head, ‘Don’t ask.’ _And be careful, she might bite for head off…_ remains unsaid and thankfully unneeded as Garza seems to choose to ignore our previous task. “It's good you've arrived, Tae. We have much to discuss. First, let me congratulate you for your work on the Black Sun operation. You did well disabling that nerve gas. Also, that prototype blaster you confiscated will teach us a great deal about the Black Sun's sources.” Tae nods stiffly, “Glad to be of service, sir.” Garza tilts her head, and I flinch momentarily until I hear Tae breathe in deeply, trying to calm down before saying, “I'm sorry about my testimony, General. I know it doesn't make your job any easier.” She gives Tae a sad smile, “You did warn me though.” Tae nods, more relaxed as Garza continues, “On to more pressing issues. My agents have discovered a vital new link to Havoc Squad here on Coruscant. Jek Kardan, one of the founders of Havoc Squad and Commander Tavus' former mentor, has been spotted on the city's lower levels. He's serving as an officer in a local vigilante group.”

            “Is Kardan tied in with the deflection, General?” Tae asks, concern coloring her voice. I tilt my head, wondering if she somehow knows him too, as she seems popular. “Kardan resigned his commission and disappeared after the debacle on Andro Prime. If he's turned up now, it can't be a coincidence.” Tae swallows, nodding, “Tavus told me that Ando Prime was the reason for Havoc's deflection. What happened on the planet?” Garza looks down and starts pacing, “We sent Havoc to Ando Prime to cut off an Imperial offensive, but the enemy numbers were much higher than intel had led us to believe. When we tried to dispatch an extraction team, the Senate shut down the entire operation. We were 'causing an incident' and 'breaching the peace.' Bureaucrats. Havoc was left with no support and no way home. But despite insurmountable odds, Kardan led Havoc out of there alive.” My eyes widen as Tae’s close, “Havoc was really betrayed by the Senate.” Garza grimly nods, “They were put in a terrible situation, Tae, but that doesn't excuse their actions.” I see her nod, “I know. I just wanted it to be untrue.” She gives her a sympathetic look, “Kardan resigned as soon as he learned the truth, and Tavus took over the squad. They were never quite the same. What is important now is that we've discovered Jek Kardan's location. I want you to bring him in at all costs.” Tae’s stiff nod returns, “I'll take care of it.” I grimace, hoping she doesn’t know him, it’ll make our job that much harder. “The vigilante group Kardan is working with is called the Justicars' Brigade. They control a large area of Coruscant's lower levels and are openly hostile to all outsiders,” Garza continues. I swallow, _what is happening in our capital…_ “Our surveillance shows that Kardan spends most of his time in the Justicars' main base. You will attempt to capture him there. Kardan is a crucial link to Tavus and the rest of the Havoc traitors, Tae. Bring him in, no matter what it takes.” Tae nods once more, “I'll have Kardan back here on the double, sir.” She smiles slightly, “I'm counting on you, Lieutenant. Dismissed.” I notice Tae look at me as we exit the room, “I'm sorry about earlier, Jorgan.” I nearly freeze in my surprise. Not having the words to should say, I simply shrug. Which may have been the wrong thing to do as she sighs sadly and rolls her eyes. We, then, walk to where you can rent speeders, getting one we go straight into the Justicars' territory. Since I'm at the wheel, surprisingly, Tae holos Cheyanne. “So where are you heading?” she asks once the smuggler answers. Cheyanne glances at Talia who’s also in call, “Tali and I are both going to the Justicar sector.” The Jedi exclaims, “You’re going there why?!” Her sister sighs, “It’s for my ship, Tali, okay? I wouldn’t go anywhere near that place if I didn’t have too.” My eyes flick to Tae briefly as she grimaces, “I have to go there too. We’ll see you there,” ending the call. There's a new face when we rejoin with the sisters, the Jedi from the holo. She looks somewhat surprised, and taken back as Tae claps, “Introductions are probably needed… I’m Lieutenant Jessi Tae and this is Sergeant Aric Jorgan.” The woman nods, “Sorry about that. I forget my manners sometimes. I’m Kira Carsen, Talia’s Padawan.” I internally whistle as Tae nods, “Well, nice to meet you. It’ll be nice working with two Jedi,” finishing with a soft smile and a light punch to new Master’s arm, “Now let’s get out of this place.” The sisters nod in agreement, and we begin the fight through the Justicars.

            The Captain is the first to separate from the group, apparently needing to talk to someone so we sit and wait for her and Corso to return. When she does, she's mumbling about something that makes her sister chuckle. “Are you finished yet?” she asks, and the smuggler shakes her head, “Have to go to the Detention Center.” Talia frowns until Kira says, “That’s where we’re headed.” The Jedi turns to her before looking back at her sister, “Then we might as well go together.” Cheyanne nods then leads the charge and the fighting begins again. After a long run and dozens of fights, we finally reach the detention center where the Jedi and smugglers enter as Tae and I continue to the main base. We walk into a conversation between Kardan and, I groan, an Imperial Officer. “You listen to me, Kardan. Helping you has already put my operation at risk. You will do exactly as I say, when I say, or...” Kardan interrupts him, “Or you'll what, Captain? I'm not one of your lock-stepping drones—this part of the op is mine. End of discussion.” I nearly roll my eyes. “How dare you...” the captain begins. “Problems in the ranks, gentlemen?” Tae cuts in, walking towards them holding her blaster to the Imp's head. One of the captain's men exclaims, “Intruders!” I snort, holding my own blaster at Karden, who says, “Put those blasters on the floor, soldiers. Nice and slow,” pointing his gun at us, the two other Imperials following his lead minus the captain. “Not going to happen,” Tae states matter-of-factly, raising her aim a bit higher on the captain's body. “It's over, Kardan. You, the Imps, Tavus—you're all going down,” I add, standing next to Tae. “Like the other soldier said, not going to happen. Now drop that weapon before...” Karden pauses, finally noticing the insignia on our armor, “A Havoc badge? Is this a joke? No, no—you must be the new recruit Tavus told me about. So, you survived after all. Can't say I'm surprised, honestly. Havoc always did recruit the best.”

            “I'm not interested in compliments from a traitor,” Tae states, her eyes flicking to Karden and I’m itching to shoot him but I’m following her lead. “It's not treason when the Republic betrays you first, it's self-preservation,” Kardan says, “I'm impressed—I didn't think the old lady would send someone after me so quickly. After all these years, Garza still hasn't lost her edge.” The captain crosses his arms, “What are you waiting for, Kardan? Kill the whelp! Or do you lack the true resolve to fight for the Empire?” Kardan's eyes narrow, “My loyalty is to Tavus. Not to your empire, and not to anyone else. You want the trooper dead, you take care of it,” he puts his gun away, “I don't kill good soldiers. I'm heading down to the Works to make sure everything is prepped.” Tae stiffens slightly, looking over at Kardan, “You won't escape me for long, Kardan.” He chuckles, shaking his head, “Do yourself a favor and die now, soldier—before you get in any deeper over your head,” then he walks away, and the two Imperial troopers step up as the captain exclaims “Open fire, men!” Tae takes her shot killing the captain instantly as I take care of the other two. As soon as the last body falls, Tae’s holo beeps, “Come in, Tae. Is it my imagination, or were those Imperial soldiers you just fought?” I roll my eyes, out of frame. “No mistake, sir. These were Imperial commandos,” Tae states grimly. “Imperial soldiers, in uniform, operating on the lower levels of Coruscant—and Republic security knows nothing about it. Incredible. We need to learn more about this link between the Justicars and the Empire. If they're hosting our enemies, they might have some useful information for us.” Tae tilts her head, “Shouldn't I be chasing Kardan, sir?” She slightly chuckles, “We need to know where Kardan has gone before you can pursue him. All the more reason to search the Justicar base for information. Surveillance shows that the Justicars have their primary computer terminal in that base. Find the necessary card and activate that computer terminal. My technicians can then slice in and uncover everything the Justicars and Imperials have been up to.” I nod, “I'll take care of this immediately.” She smiles and nods, “Good. Garza out.” Tae huffs slightly then we make our way back to near where we separated from the others, heading to the computer lab.

            There's a couple dozen Justicars inside, but they don't stand much of a chance with us. After the last body hits the ground, Tae and I begin searching their bodies for an access card to their mainframe. I’m the one who finds it then we begin searching for their main computer, finding it in the largest room inside the lab. We then use it and set the holo on the terminal. “Good work, Tae. My technicians are accessing the Justicars' files now. Patrol schedules, supply manifests, prisoner records—Ah! Kardan, you… I think we've found what we were looking for, Lieutenant Tae. You have a new target.” My CO nods, “Just tell me who and where.” Garza smirks, “Kardan had the Justicars work with the Imperials to hijack and rebuild an abandoned Republic communications relay, down in an industrial area called the Works. Apparently, Tavus and his followers are using this relay to route all their interplanetary communications. If we destroy it, the traitors will be completely cut off from one another.” Tae tilts her head, “Why would the traitors depend on equipment like this?”

            “They obviously can't rely on Republic channels,” Garza states, “and Imperial frequencies would be useless because we could trace their source. Tavus and his followers need this relay to keep us from overhearing their comm traffic. It's critical to their operations, which makes destroying it critical to ours. I'm sending Sergeant Mathin to bring you the explosives you'll need to destroy the relay. He'll rendezvous with you shortly.” Tae nods, “I'll meet up with Sergeant Mathin ASAP.” She nods, smiling slightly, “One last thing, Kardan didn't seem to mesh with the Imperials. I don't think he's as convinced of their supremacy as his proteges are. You're sure to find him guarding that comm relay. Kill him if you have to, Tae, but try to persuade him to surrender peacefully first.” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Tae looks at me as she answers, “I'll give it my best shot, General.” I cross my arms as Garza says, “Please do, Lieutenant. Kardan's only concern is the safety of the former Havoc members. He may not be loyal to us, but he isn't loyal to the Empire, either. Convince him that it's in the best interest of Tavus' and the others for him to surrender. That's the best way to sway him.” Tae nods, “Understood, sir.” She smiles sadly, “I know Jek Kardan, Tae. Convince him that surrendering is the only way that everyone comes out of this alive, and we'll have him. Now hurry and rendezvous with Sergeant Mathin. You'll need those explosives regardless of what happens with Kardan. Good luck. Garza out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy May the Fourth!  
> ==========================  
> 1-3 | Ord Mantell  
> 4-6 | Coruscant  
> 7 | Interlude  
> 8-9 | Taris  
> 10-… | Nar Shaddaa  
> ==========================  
> Hope ya'll enjoy it and sorry for any mistakes.  
> Positive feedback is greatly appreciated!


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